


The alluring charm of Henry Cavill

by writeanddontstop



Category: Henry Cavill - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, survival show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeanddontstop/pseuds/writeanddontstop
Summary: ‘The Celebrity Project’ is the newest survival show where three celebrity duo’s compete for the number one spot. They’ll win a price of one million dollars, they can donate to a charity of their liking. Adelaide Park, the Korean-American actress who is dominating the world of romantic comedies, is paired with Henry Cavill. What she doesn’t know is that Henry Cavill has an agenda of his own and Adelaide learns all about the world of PR-stunts.
Relationships: Henry Cavill/Adelaide Park, Henry Cavill/Asian Original Character, Henry Cavill/Original Character(s), Henry Cavill/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Check the introduction on my Tumblr: https://keanureevesisbae.tumblr.com/post/629478838761586688/the-alluring-charm-of-henry-cavill-introduction

I’ve never been to Italy before. Actually, before I was a renowned actress, I never came outside of LA. Growing up, my parents never had the money to go to a different city, let alone other countries. My vacations were spend solely in our small one room apartment back in Los Angeles by myself.

My parents were never rich. My dad worked long hours in a factory every single day, but earning just enough money to pay the rent and for me and mom to eat. One night, I saw him scraping the packages or our plats clean, so he had something to eat as well. After I saw that, I never ate all the food off my plate, because I realized that my dad was working the hardest, but was eating the least.

It always broke my heart to see both of them struggle. My mom used to be a cleaning lady, but after she got fired, she became a live-in nanny, which basically meant that from my sixth birthday, she was barely home anymore and I had to raise myself.

Hours on end I was alone. Back in school I barely had any friends—correction: I had no friends at all—and when I came home from school, I’d sit outside to do my homework, because dad didn’t have enough money to get a second set of keys.

I never complained about it, because I knew they were trying and I learned all too well from that one time when I asked for a Barbie doll back when I was five and I kept crying about it, because other kids had Barbie dolls and I was the only one who didn’t. My mom got so mad, that she grabbed my empty plate and threw it against the wall, while she was screaming something about how ungrateful I was. Mom never got mad, she was always admirably calm and collected, even when life got in the way like it did with us. Seeing her like this, meant she was serious and I never said anything about something like that anymore. I never asked for anything, at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and I am so thankful for everything they taught me and did for me. It may have been a hard time, but every year for my birthday, they gave me something. It was always something I really needed, but I always appreciated how they went out of their way for me, wondering how many meals they skipped for this present.

It all became worse when I finished high school at the age of nineteen. I was older than everyone else, since I read so slowly and didn’t even understand it most of the time, causing me to get behind on many classes over the course of the years. Besides, our school wasn’t known for having the best results overall, so the fact that I didn’t score well, meant I was blending in with the rest.

I was working in a diner, because I wasn’t smart enough at all for a scholarship, when my mom got in a terrible accident, when she walked back home and she was hit by a car who ran through a red light. She was paralyzed from her waist down and besides the high hospital bills, she also needed psychical therapy, something that unfortunately isn’t free.

With what my dad and I were earning together, we couldn’t even pay two percent of those costs. I was thinking about putting myself up on a sugar daddy website, but I know I couldn’t lie to them, when I would come back with a lot of money. Besides, my dad was always very strict about what mom and I could and couldn’t do to make money and sugar daddies were off limits. He told me multiple times—even after mom’s accident—that we had nothing to worry about. That he would take care of it.

But I had something to worry about, because my father wasn’t getting any younger. He had been working too hard for too long and all he wanted, was staying with his wife, who he still loved so so much, despite everything they had gone through. I took up more shifts at the diner, only slowly coming to terms that, even with the tips I was receiving, it was never enough to cover the bills.

In about two months, my mom would be discharged from the facility, if we hadn’t paid at least something significant.

One day, I was walking back home from work, when I saw a huge billboard, with a message that a studio was looking for someone to star in one of the biggest sitcoms of that time: Remembering High School. Apparently, one of the new main characters (who was an adult) was having a flashback from when they were in high school—the main premise of the show. And that character happened to be an Asian lady.

I went in and decided I would try it out. I mean, I had no acting experience and solely did it to earn some money, but being Asian American was apparently enough and that was the beginning of my acting career.

At first the amounts of money I made were not enough to cover the medical costs, but it was enough to delay further payment and my mom could stay in the facility.

For years I had difficulty with reading, let alone reading out loud, with an audience, but somehow on the set, I could forget about that. I could finally be someone I really wanted to be. For a few moments I could forget all the sorrows and worries I had resting on my shoulders.

The first five weeks, I’d combine my new acting career with my job in the diner, but after awhile I became a recurring character and for a whole year, I was part of the cast. I remember walking into my mom’s room, showing both her and my dad the first episode I was going to star in. ‘I’m from Minnesota,’ was my first line and the beginning of a very promising career.

My parents were so proud of me. My dad didn’t even care about the money I made at first, because he was so happy that I was doing something that from the looks of it, I actually enjoyed.

Over the years, I’ve come to love acting, but no one knows I do it because of my family. Actually no one knew about my family situation and since I have zero friends, even in the industry (because I barely talk about my personal life and I never budge, even when the try to pry information about it. My co-stars are acquaintances, almost like neighbors: you know one another, but you don’t _know_ them), no one is aware that every penny I earn, goes directly to my family.

Nowadays I make millions, but I’m mainly spending it on my mom, but also on other people who are paralyzed and need psychical therapy, but were in the same boat as my family and my parents met over time in the facility. Money doesn’t mean a lot to me and these people can use it a lot better than I can.

Besides, my parents worked so hard for me growing up, this is the only way for me to pay them back. Despite not having any money themselves, nor stuff, they always taught me to share, to make sure that other people are well taken care off.

The flight from Japan to Italy moved along pretty quick, but maybe that’s because I was traveling first class. My latest movie took place in Japan and though I loved it there, I really want to see what Italy is like, after spending eight months in a lousy hotel in Japan.

After becoming an actress, I went to a lot of great places for shooting movies. I went to Suriname, Canada, Spain, Australia and this time it was Japan. I’m so blessed that I get to travel, knowing really well that other people are still struggling with what I used to struggle with. Sometimes I donate the earnings of a movie to movements that catch my eye, that help kids in certain areas of California with their school work, and with access of clothes and food. I always donate anonymously, not wanting to seem like a philanthropist who is doing this solely for her own image.

I always think that if you really care about something, you would do it without earning praises.

Participating on ‘The Celebrity Project’ wasn’t something I would normally do, but when they reached out to me, I was actually delighted that I was going to be part of this. Maybe I could finally show the world that I’m not as stupid as I appear in interviews.

Being a loner, a slow reader and probably has multiple learning disabilities (if I actually got tested, but the tests were too expensive and no one at school seemed to care and I’m actually too embarrassed to get myself tested now I’m a twenty-five year old), I often come off as an airhead and it’s my own fault really. I do give them enough stupid material to go on about that accusation.

However, I’m really nervous. I mean, I’m going to work together with Henry Cavill. He is charming and sounds so intelligent. When I was done filming and back at my hotel room, I’d watch his interviews, because I wanted to know what I was going to work with. The way he is so articulate and he obviously knows what he is doing, makes me feel even worse about myself. I’m a total disaster and already a burden to him I presume.

I’m sitting in a taxi, waiting for traffic to calm down a bit. It’s early in the mornings and thankfully I got to make myself a bit more presentable in the plane already. I notice the tiny camera’s being strategically placed in the car. It really begun, I think to myself. I’m part of a reality show now. ‘How are you feeling, miss Park?’ the taxi driver asks. ‘I recently heard about this program.’

‘I’m a bit nervous,’ I say, wondering whether or not he is payed to to talk to me about this. I rummage through my purse, hoping I can find my lip balm.

‘Are you looking forward to work with Henry Cavill?’

That name alone makes me nearly make me shit my pants already. ‘Yeah, he seems like a nice man, so I really look forward to work with him.’ And I sure as hell hope that I won’t let him down.

The drive to the hotel is about an hour, but it feels like time is going by a whole lot faster. The chauffeur talks about his family and how his wife is actually a fan of my movies and has watched every single one of them. I took a few pictures with him and signed the inside of the cracker box, because that was all he got with him for me to write something on.

After I said goodbye to him, I’m told that I should go to room 346. With my suitcases with me, I step into the elevator, a cameraman close by. They told me that at one point, these cameramen would just be invisible to me, but I highly doubt it. They are only with us during the assignments. In the cars and at the place where we’re staying, the camera’s are hidden.

When I’m in front of the door, I take a deep breath.

 _I can do this_ I think to myself. I have starred alongside other talented people. My first real role was playing Keanu Reeves’ daughter, I was Angela Bassett’s assistant and I also had some pretty steamy scenes with David Castañeda, after his Umbrella Academy days. I can handle being around Henry Cavill, right? I knock on the door three times and I open it a bit, peeking my head around the door.

I can conclude that I’m severely underdressed. I’m wearing a simply jean short, white crop top with some lace on the borders and socks with the same lace details as my top, paired with white sneakers.

I look like a slob, compared to Henry, who seems like he stepped out of a Disney movie. His white blouse, off-white pants and those loafers. The only thing that is missing, is his yacht with the name Serenity.

A smile creeps up on my face, as I step into the room, rolling my pink suitcases with me, because he actually looks approachable.

‘Hi there,’ he says with a small smile on his face. He walks up to me, holding out his hand. ‘I’m Henry, nice to meet you.’

I can’t help but blush. He is so charming and his accent makes him so posh. I place my hand in his and it almost disappears. Not to be that girl, but my size kink is activated right here and now. ‘Adelaide,’ I say. ‘Uhm, it’s nice to meet you… Too.’

_I curse my tongue._

‘How was your flight?’ he asks, as he gestures to the couch for us to sit on.

I take place right next to him and I feel like a child sitting next to her dad. Why is he so massive? ‘It was okay. Yours?’

‘It flew by.’

I raise my eyebrows. ‘Was that… a pun?’

Henry chuckles nervously. ‘Maybe, I’m sorry.’

I look around me. The hotel room seems okay, but I bet we’re not going to stay here for long. I stare at the silver tray in front of us, with a set of keys and an envelope with our names on it.

Henry takes the envelope from the tray and holds it in front of me. ‘You want to read it?’

I shake my head. ‘No, you go.’ The whole idea of reading out loud without practice, makes me want to vomit. Before the table reads, I use this program that will read everything for me, even using the right intonation. I stay up for way too many hours for that, because once I’ve heard it, I made notes, I can better read it.

Back when I was doing ‘Remembering High School’ I had the woman who played the adult version of me read it to me, because I had to portray the young her and keep her character in mind. Since she was an established character on the show, she had certain ways of saying things I had to copy. She never knew the real reason I wanted her to read it out loud for me.

He cocks an eyebrow, but then opens the envelope. He clears his throat, before a dramatic reading of our first assignment rolls out of his mouth. How can he make a simple note sound so… Sensual, almost? His deep and dark voice, making it sound way more intense than it actually is. I wouldn’t mind if he read my scripts out loud for me.

‘Dear Adelaide and Henry, the adventure of ‘The Celebrity Project’ has officially started,’ he says, tilting the card a little, so I can read a little bit with him. It’s a nice gesture really and I appreciate the thought. ‘We have provided you with a nice car, to drive to the little cottage, specially arranged for the two of you. Tomorrow will be a nice day for you to relax (because you two are both severely jet lagged we presume) and the day after that, you’ll be expected for your first assignment. Enjoy the car ride and remember: look out of your window every now and then. We are aware that Henry is really handsome, Adelaide and you’ll be forced to only look at him, but nature can be beautiful too.’

I scrunch up my nose. That last sentence seemed so forced and this is exactly the reason why I don’t like these types of survival, borderline reality shows. It’s not reality. It’s this forced setting, hoping to get people to believe that this is how real life should look like.

And I don’t like deceiving people like that. I almost regret participating.

‘Right, well, we might as well just go,’ he says, his tone flat, maybe just as annoyed with that last sentence as I am. Probably even more so.

◎◎◎

 _Why is there a pink carseat in the passengers seat?_ I mean, I’m not the tallest, but I’m definitely not that tiny. I look around us, only to see no member of the crew around. This is great. I want to take the seat out, because I don’t want to sit on it, but it’s securely fastened and only with a different set of keys, I can undo it.

And of course I don’t have that.

_I really regret being here._

However, I still sit on the carseat, because I don’t want to sit in the back because I’ll get carsick and when I see Henry’s cocked eyebrows and a poorly hidden smirk, I simply say: ‘Don’t.’

Okay, maybe I do understand why they put me on a carseat, because this man looks so enormous and otherwise I’m simply non existent. He starts the car and simply drives off. I don’t know whether or not I should say something to him, because I feel like we should talk. I mean, that’s why the camera’s are here right?

‘What is your newest movie about?’ Henry asks.

‘About a woman escaping from her past and she moves to Japan, when one day an old friend becomes her new manager,’ I say.

‘Romantic comedy?’

‘Of course.’

He nods. ‘You don’t get tired of doing those?’ he asks.

Yes, I do get a bit tired of them, but there are two things: for starters, just like those romance books (that I would buy my mom one for her birthday every year, because I knew how much she loved those), romantic comedies sell really good. And no one wants me for something else. I feel like directors don’t trust me with big roles, like Rose in Titanic or someone else major. Besides, I’m Asian American, when was the last time one of us got a major part in a movie that’s not a romantic comedy?

But I don’t want to seem ungrateful and it’s a nice stream of money coming in every time and that’s basically all I want.

‘No,’ I say. ‘It’s okay. You shot something new… new movie… Right?’ _For fuck sake, Adelaide, you were doing so well._

‘I did, actually,’ he says. ‘It’s something I’m very excited for. It’s more of a dramatical part.’ I listen to Henry, as he is talking about this movie. How he plays a single dad, trying to figure out this parenting part with his daughter, when his brother and sister-in-law pass away and he has to take in four monsters of boys in his house. The way he talks about this, I notice a shimmer in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ he apologizes. ‘I let myself go there for a second. It’s just I’m really excited about this movie.’

‘No, I get it,’ I say, as I look out of the window. I let out a deep sigh, as we drive over the sandy roads. Before I can say something else (as if I knew what), Henry hits the break and like the cliches in the movies, he holds out his arm in front of me, as the car comes to a halt.

There are four dogs and one owner on the road and the man screams something in Italian to us. Clearly we were supposed to stop for him. ‘Shit, sorry,’ Henry mumbles, as if the man could hear that.

His warm hand dropped to my bare thigh and with my pointer finger I tap him on the back of his hand. ‘Excuse me,’ I say.

‘Oh no, terrible sorry,’ he says quickly, retracting his hand. ‘What do you think the cottage will look like?’ Henry asks, when he pulled up again, not driving as fast as he did before.

Shrugging I play with my water bottle. ‘I don’t know, but I think I know one thing.’

It takes me a while before I can get the words out of my mouth, but Henry doesn’t force me to say anything, by asking something like: ‘Care to let me in?’ He actually lets me find the words and it feels nice not to be rushed into saying something.

‘I bet there is one bed that is large and comfortable. However, there is also one uncomfortable couch, too small for you. So people want to see whether or not you are a… gentleman and offer to sleep on the couch.’

‘You think?’ he asks frowning. ‘A bit far fetched, don’t you think?’

When we arrive at the tiny cottage, we walk inside. It’s nice decorated, warm colors mixed with nice hints of different pastel colors. My eye falls on the very uncomfortable looking couch that is pretty tiny if Henry is supposed to be sprawled out on that, but we don’t know what the rest looks like.

After a small tour through the house, we have come to the conclusion that there is indeed only one bed. I look over my shoulder, my eyes meeting Henry’s. ‘See?’


	2. Chapter 2

When Henry first arrived, waiting for Adelaide Park to make an appearance in the lousy hotel room, he really wasn’t look forward to it. He had to force himself to think positively about her. He is not the type of man that thinks lowly of a woman. He wasn’t raised like that and if his mother found out how he was thinking about Adelaide, she’d probably slap him and rightly so.

However, Adelaide Park and her reputation really make it difficult not to think lowly of her. He can’t stop thinking about all the interviews she gave, seeing her frowning and not looking at the interviewer in question.

On the other hand, he admires her work ethic. Angela Bassett once worked with her and when it came out that Adelaide was going to be his partner on this show, she actually called him, to tell him that Adelaide is a delight to be around with.

And of course he trusts a woman like Angela Bassett, but there is something about Adelaide and her reputation that is bothering him. Is she really this ditzy or is she just pretending? And if it’s the latter, why on earth would she be pretending? Wasn’t it better to be yourself? Of course, you always have this certain image you want to keep up, but Henry couldn’t possibly think that this is the image you want to put up.

When he met Adelaide however, something changed deep inside of him. Her lightish brown hair, her smile that could light up the entire room and how petite she was looking, especially compared to him. He still sees her face when she noticed the carseat, but once she was sitting on it, she actually matched up with his height, but it must’ve been embarrassing, he can imagine.

But there was something else: the sadness in her eyes that she let slip through every now and then. He wondered why she was sad. She seemed like the type of woman that had it all. She had a consistent fanbase, she had tons of work and won tons of prizes over the course of her pretty short acting career.

And come to think of it, she was actually quite funny, though it wasn’t her intention. Just like her acting, it’s really her facial expressions that tell exactly what she is thinking.

Adelaide went to bed pretty early, because she was trying to get over her jet lag as soon as possible. Tomorrow would be a relaxing day for the both of them and he was actually happy that the actual show with actual challenges was delayed for one more day. He really wasn’t looking forward to it.

She told him he can sleep in the same bed as her, but when he got to bed later that night, he saw that she placed a wall of pillows in the middle. During the night, she had wrapped her arms around one pillow and since he had trouble falling to sleep, he took a good look at her bare face. She was twenty five, but without make-up, she looked like she did in the first episode of ‘Remembering High School’.

Seeing how innocent she looked, he all of the sudden actually felt a bit bad for her. He was simply using her to get the part of his dreams. But she would understand that, right? He means, she’s an actress and there must be a part that she would do anything for? Maybe she is here for the exact same reason as he is…

Why doesn’t that seem like a possibility? Adelaide’s heart seems way too pure for that.

Henry pushes himself out of the bed at around eight in the morning. Adelaide is still in a deep sleep, so he decides to get started on breakfast. While the coffee is dripping, he looks through the kitchen cabinets and decides to make some pancakes, because who doesn’t love pancakes?

After he is done (and he didn’t burn a single one, his mom would be proud), he hears her footsteps coming into the living room. ‘Morning,’ he says, as he walks out of the kitchen, the coffee pot in hand. ‘Coffee?’

‘Morning,’ Adelaide says, still rubbing her eyes. It’s like she only now realizes that he asked her a question. ‘Coffee?’ she asks.

He simply nods.

‘Sure,’ she says, still a bit hesitant. She frowns, as he sees her trying to sniff up the scent. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I made breakfast.’

‘Why?’

He did not expect that. _What kind of question is that?_ ‘Figured you would like that.’

Adelaide looks at him for a few long seconds, before she sits down at the table. ‘That’s so thoughtful.’

How does that one sentence, go straight to his heart? When was the last time someone outside his family and his select group of friends, said something like that to him?

Henry doesn’t even know how to respond, so he quickly places the stack of pancakes in front of her and she smiles. ‘What?’ he asks, a smile forming on his lips before he can even think about stopping it. What is happening to him? Was he turning soft for her?

Adelaide shakes her head. ‘It’s weird, really.’

‘High doubt it,’ he retorts.

She lets out a sigh. ‘This is the first time I’ve ever had pancakes.’

 _Say what now?_ Is she serious? ‘How?’ he asks. ‘How can you never had pancakes before?’

She shrugs. ‘We just ate other things at home,’ she says, but he feels there is more to the story than that. He constantly feels like there is so much more to her story. Just like how he knows that there is something going on inside her head, that is probably worth hearing for.

She grabs one pancake, the maple syrup and she must’ve seen tons of movies to see how you eat pancakes, because she looks like an avid pancake eater.

He looks at Adelaide, who eats ridiculously slowly. He wonders what she is thinking, because she is not saying anything during breakfast. She takes small bites and chews on it for awhile. Henry knows he shouldn’t watch her as closely as he is doing right now, but he can’t help it.

She’s so different from what he is used to.

After two pancakes, she leaves two bites on her plate. ‘You want me to help with the…dishes?’ she asks.

‘No, I can do it.’

She informs him that she is getting ready for today, but before she exits the room, she turns around. ‘Henry,’ she says, causing him to look up. ‘Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.’

He stares at her blankly, as he is taking in her ‘thank you’. During fan meetings, fans usually take pictures, say something about how handsome he is and then simply walk away. But hearing a thank you for something he did, as minor as making her breakfast and setting her coffee… It melts his heart.

Before he can say something to her, she walks out of the living room.

◎◎◎

Spending hours on end with Adelaide, causes Henry to discover a few things about her. One, she doesn’t seem to give a shit about jet lags, because she is functioning like a normal human being. Two, she doesn’t finish her food, consistently leaving two or three bites on her plate. Three, she is slowly becoming more comfortable and he finally understands a bit why Angela Bassett spoke so highly of her. She is really nice and when she smiles, that sadness in her eyes disappears. She is actually also quite sassy from time to time, only using her eyebrows and her smirk. She thanks him for simple things he does and he never knew how much a simple ‘thank you’ could make your entire day. It makes you feel noticed and when was the last time he felt noticed for something he did, instead of for his looks.

After a long day of doing nothing really, they watch some television and her first sitcom ‘Remembering High School’ is on, however with reality shows like they’re in now, you never know if it’s accidental or not.

As he stares at the television and sees a young version of Adelaide on the screen, her cheeks a bit rounder. It’s weird to think that this is only five years ago. Her career really took a leap after this sitcom.

Her character Lilian has a frown on her face. ‘What do you think you are doing?’ she asks Tom, another main character who is fiddling her locker.

He stops with what he is doing, as if he burned himself. ‘Nothing.’

‘Liar liar, pants on fire,’ Lilian singsongs with a smile on her face. ‘Tom, you have been acting weird all day long. What’s up? Is it something I did?’’

‘No, no, of course not, it’s nothing you did.’ Tom hesitates for a second, before he licks his lips. ‘You know, I’m just going to say it. I’m madly in love with you, Lilian. That rose you got on Valentines Day? That was mine. The answers for next weeks test? I gave that to you, because I knew you were stressing out. It’s just that I really really like you and I understand that you don’t like me, but I had to get this of my chest.’

The main premise of this show, is basically a bit of ‘How I Met Your Mother’, however, this actually seems a bit more realistic and the diversity in the show is a whole lot better. Every season covers a new class reunion, where they all come together with their families, talking about high school and their experiences. It is a fun show, Henry watched it quite a few times actually.

The thing about this show, was that it always feels homey and you didn’t even have to know the entire storyline, to follow it.

‘You like me?’ Lilian asks and when Henry looks at the screen, he sees what Adelaide Park is best at: her facial expressions. He stares at the visibly confused look on her face, the tiny frown between her brows, her lips slightly apart.

‘I should go,’ Tom announces, causing the audience to aww. He walks through the hallway, around the corner, when Lilian grabs his hand. ‘Wha—’ he starts, but Lilian interrupts him by saying: ‘I’m falling in love with you too, Tom.’

The audience starts to applaud and to whistle. The two have to wait until it’s all over, something that Henry actually admires. It takes a lot of improvising he can imagine. ‘Can I kiss you?’ Lillian asks him.

‘Of course,’ Tom manages to stutter.

Henry can’t help but actually chuckle as he stares at the two on the screen, who both have red blushes on their cheeks. ‘You both seem nervous.’

‘Well, we were,’ Adelaide says, as she scrunches up her nose when she averts her eyes from the television as their characters kiss. ‘It was my first kiss in general and his first one screen kiss.’

‘Really?’ he asks. ‘Your first kiss?’ Wasn’t she like nineteen or twenty on this show?

‘I was a late bloomer,’ she admits. He sees how a blush forms on her cheeks again and before he can asks her another question (he has tons, because he really wants to know more about starring on a sitcom), she gets up. ‘I’m going to sleep,’ she announces.

Why is he genuinely disappointed? ‘I’ll try and not wake you up this time,’ he tells her, remembering how he tripped and made tons of noise as he walked into the bedroom last night, causing her to wake up.

Adelaide chuckles. ‘Thanks.’ She stands up and he can’t help but stare after her. Even when the door is long closed, he keeps on staring at the light brown wood.

Henry is embarrassed that he thought so little of her. She is quite special, though he still has to figure her out a bit.

But he has weeks to get to know her.

◎◎◎

The next morning a loud voice over wakes them up at the crack of dawn. Adelaide screams as she wakes up, before rubbing her face when she realizes that it’s nothing serious. They have to get ready in sport gear in forty minutes and be outside on the field, so they can meet the others, for their first assignment.

‘You okay?’ Henry asks Adelaide, who is taking deep breaths, combing through her hair with her fingers. Less than a week ago he was bitching about her in his head and now he is genuinely worried about her.

_And why?_

He doesn’t even know that. She has been really good at not going into her personal life too much, almost as if she is doing it for years.

But it’s true when he thinks about it. No one knows a lot about her. He tried to look some things up about her when he found out he was going to work with her, but it wasn’t anything that he and the rest of the world already knew. It’s weird, that even people at her school say that she was pretty quiet and to herself, but that no one could think about something memorable she did. Was she that invisible? He can barely understand that. Not much about her family life is known, except that her parents were Korean, who moved from South-Korea to America years before she was born.

‘I’m okay,’ she says, faking a smile on her face. ‘You mind if I go into the bathroom first?’

‘Please, go.’

Adelaide gets out of bed, walks passed her suitcase to grab some clothes and wanders off to the bathroom. He slowly forces himself out of bed, to grab the sports clothes he is thinking about wearing.

She walks into the bedroom again, to grab her sport shoes. ‘The bathroom is yours.’

But Henry barely registries it, because he looks at her attire. He notices she is wearing a bit of make-up, but nothing extravagant and she did her short hair into two Dutch braids. She is wearing a pair of black sport leggings, that show off her slender legs and a tight white sports shirt, accentuating her narrow waist. When she grabs her shoes and she stands up straight again, her gaze meets his. ‘What?’ she asks, visibly confused that he is staring at her. ‘Something wrong?’

‘No,’ he quickly says, as he is caught redhanded.

‘You’re staring.’

‘No, I’m just… Never saw you in sportswear, that’s all.’

She frowns. ‘No pacific— I mean, spec— specific reason that you are looking at me?’ Her cheeks went from a soft pink, to an angry red within seconds and he notices that she is getting even more red.

But it makes sense now, he thinks to himself. Her troubles with finding words, the nearly panicked look in her eyes when he offered if she wanted to read it and this little slip up.

What if she is dyslexic?

Back in high school, his friend Steve was dyslexic as well and they would sit together before class, reading the text, when they knew they had a class where the teacher would force you to read out loud. Just like Adelaide, Steve made little slip ups and when he was nervous, he’d take a long time before he could put his thoughts into words. Just like Adelaide in interviews. Now is every case of dyslexia different, Henry knows that, but the similarities are uncanny.

He decides that this isn’t the moment to ask about it, so he says: ‘No, I just know that I have to wear black pants and a white shirt as well, so everyone knows we’re a team.’

After he got dressed in a black knee length short and a white sports shirt as well and the two of them had a protein bar, they walk out of they cottage. One of the cameramen informs them that they don’t have to lock the door, since there are people here to watch out.

There are a few camera’s around them. One in front, one in the back and a few further ahead. It causes Henry to clear his throat. When people aren’t watching, he knows that they can actually talk a bit, but now that there are others around her, he is quite nervous actually.

He wonders how the others are doing. He wasn’t aware that Justin Bieber got married, but apparently he is participating with his wife, who is a model. Henry also wasn’t aware that she was a Baldwin, but he has to admit that he doesn’t keep up with every bit celebrity news. He knows who Charlie Puth is and he definitely knows who Jennifer Lopez is. Are they having the “troubles” he and Adelaide are facing?

Henry sees the obstacle course, together with the two other duos. Now he himself has done these types of obstacle courses. He knows how to deal with them, since his brothers took him to these types of courses years ago. However when he looks at Adelaide, he wonders whether or not she’ll manage.

The rest of the duos are really nice and Jennifer Lopez reaches out to Adelaide, asking her how she is and Henry is almost jealous how at ease Adelaide seems with Jennifer Lopez.

_He is jealous?_

The weird thing about this program is that there isn’t a host. Every challenge will be presented by someone else and for some reason, that is such a relief. If there was an annoying host, staying here would be a million times harder.

A tough looking man quickly explains the obstacle course and Henry knows that he can do this. Adelaide on the other hand is growing more and more nervous, he can see it. She is fidgeting her hands, her eyes are blinking faster than they did before.

For a few seconds the real reason for him participating in this show (it’s starts with a J and ends with ames Bond), disappears.

But he wants to win.

One person shows what they should do and Henry takes quick mental notes. He is used to this, but this seems too easy, not only for him. There must be a catch.

‘But,’ the man says, ‘there is a catch.’

If Henry doesn’t get the part of James Bond, he should work as a producer for a reality show. With Adelaide for that matter, who totally got that far fetched idea of that one bed problem right.

‘The women are blindfolded and the men can only help them, using their words.’

◎◎◎

Adelaide is about to put on the blindfold, just like the two other ladies. Henry notices her hands shake and when she wants to put the blindfold on, he takes it out of her hands. ‘Let me,’ he says.

She looks up and says: ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why are you sorry, Adelaide?’

‘Because I’m probably going to suck.’

Henry stands behind her, as he puts the blindfold on. ‘Don’t you worry about that,’ he says, though the voice in his head tells him that he should worry about that. He means: if she thinks that she is going to suck, then they are definitely going to lose. ‘I won’t let you fall,’ he tells her, because he feels like that is really bothering her.

‘You can only guide me through this using your words,’ she mutters, playing with her hands. ‘What if I do fall?’

‘No, no, no,’ he says. ‘You won’t fall. You think I’d let that happen?’

She simply shrugs, but doesn’t say anything anymore.

The man counts from three to zero and Henry so desperately wants to hold her arm, so she knows where she needs to go, but it’s the James Bond part that prevents him from doing such thing. He really doesn’t want to lose if necessary and every time he physically helps her, they get a fifteen second time penalty. ‘Go!’

The first obstacle is a balance beam, but it’s thirty centimeters above the ground. ‘Okay, Adelaide,’ he tells her, after he told her to stop walking, ‘this is the balance beam. You have enough room for your feet, okay. Just carefully place one foot in front of the next one.’

Her petite hands grab the end of the balance beam, before she puts her knee on the wood. She stands up and as if she dips her toe into the water to test out if it’s too cold, she carefully walks over the beam. He looks passed her, only to see the others are doing far worse.

Maybe they can win this challenge after all.

‘Stop walking,’ he tells her and she stops instantly. ‘You’re at the end.’

She carefully steps off the balance beam and he can definitely see that she is becoming a little more confident. The next obstacle is stepping into some tires. Now he usually likes to do this as fast as possible, but seeing how carefully and well thought through Adelaide is taking these steps, makes his heart nearly melt.

They have reached the sloping wall with a rope on both sides. It’s good that they have seen the entire obstacle course once and they both saw how it works. He keeps thinking about how he would’ve explained this to her.

She grabs the robe and climbs up. When she’s near the top, he lets her know, so she can throw her leg over the edge. As if she’s sitting on a horse on top of the sloping wall, she takes a deep breath.

‘What is it, Adelaide?’ he asks her. ‘You okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ she says, before she grabs the robe and climbs down.

Henry can’t believe this. She is actually nailing this, with a certain grace. He didn’t notice before, but Adelaide’s posture is great, no matter what she does. Never slumping her shoulders and her chin up. He wonders if she has ever done something like ballet or gymnastics, because she certainly knows how to carry herself.

Another thing he desperately needs to figure out.

The monkey bars are next, but from where she is standing and with her height, Adelaide can’t actually reach the bars, even if he jumps. Every time he psychically helps her, it adds fifteen seconds to their time, but with how far they are ahead, he decides to risk it. ‘Okay, Adelaide,’ he tells her, ‘I’m going to lift you up, so you can hold onto the first set of bars, okay?’

‘Okay,’ she says in a tiny voice.

Henry stands behind her and places his hands in her waist. He swallows hard and sure hope that the camera’s aren’t zooming in on his face, because he feels like he is blushing. He easily lifts her up and she holds onto the bars tightly. ‘I’ve got it,’ she tells him and like an actual pro, she grabs the second bar with one hand.

 _Henry really shouldn’t have underestimated Adelaide Park_.

They have four more obstacles to go and he is growing more and more confident that they can win this. He feels so stupid and he definitely shouldn’t think lowly about her ever again. She has to crawl underneath a net, but it’s like a labyrinth. However they work well together. He tells her stop, she stops. He tells her right, she goes right. She is muddy by the end of the labyrinth and after pulling a face, she wipes her hands clean on her sport leggings.

Now she has to do this thing the man called a college boy roll. She has to hold onto the single bars and kick her legs up over the bar and flip around, so her hips meet the bar as she slings her head back. He feels like she can’t do that, so again he lifts her up so she can grab the bars. He guides her through this entire thing, but after she flipped over, she loses her grip on the iron bars.

She lets out a scream, just like she did this morning when the voice over rudely woke her up, but Henry catches her, as if she was a bride to be carried into their room. Adelaide can’t see him, but he sure as hell can see her and from underneath the blindfold, he sees a red blush appear. ‘Thanks,’ she shakily says.

‘Are you okay?’

She simply nods, but he directly notices it again when they continue to walk. Adelaide Park has frozen up and lost much of her confidence.

‘You are doing so well, Adelaide,’ he says in a soothing voice, hoping he can coax her into finishing the obstacle course. ‘We only have two more things to do. You can do this.’

They are still ahead and thankfully Adelaide starts to walk again with him. She somehow manages to nail the next obstacle, by climbing over higher horizontal bars and walk underneath the lower ones.

But the final obstacle was something no one knew about and it’s to swim one bit. When he looks over to the other courses for the other duos, he notices they don’t have to swim. There are different tasks.

‘What is the next one?’ she asks.

‘You have to swim for twenty meters,’ he answers.

‘Wh— What?’ She automatically takes a step back. ‘I can’t do that, Henry. Really, I can’t.’

The fear that slips through her voice, it makes him realize something: all the final obstacles are things that they are afraid of doing. He wonders how the producers know about this, but then he realizes: this is reality tv, they had to do tons of interviews beforehand.

‘Why not?’

A deafening silence for a whole five seconds. ‘I can’t swim.’

This is just mean, he thinks to himself. If they knew that Adelaide couldn’t swim, why would they do this. Fuck, he hates himself for participating.

‘We have to finish this, Adelaide,’ Henry says to her.

‘I’m not going to swim.’

‘I’m going to be there with you,’ he says. ‘And before you bring up the time penalty, it’s every _time_ I psychically help you. So if I don’t let you go, it’s one time.’

And from underneath her blindfold, he sees tears dripping from her cheeks. Oh no, she is really crying, but he wants to win this and he really needs to push through.

‘I can’t do it,’ she says, her voice trembling. ‘I can’t, I’m so sorry.’ She rips off the blindfold, before she tries to take a deep breath, but seems to fail.

‘No, no, no,’ he says, reaching out to Adelaide, grabbing her elbows. ‘Listen to me.’ _We need to finish this obstacle course. I have to win at least the first challenge for us to have a decent chance to win this whole competition._ ‘You have to breath with me. I’m not going to force you into finishing this course, but I don’t want you to have a panic attack, Adelaide.’ However his words don’t reach her, because her head drops to her chest and he quickly can catch her, bringing her to the ground, holding his hand on the back of her head. ‘Adelaide,’ he says, hoping to get her attention, but with no luck. ‘Can someone come over here?!’


	3. Chapter 3

_Why am I in bed?_

I look around and see that I’m in the middle of the bed that Henry and I share back on the show, but the improvised wall between us is gone.

Back when I was growing up, we had one bedroom and one bed, where we had to squeeze in if we happened to be all home. That rarely happened. It was usually just me, or later on my dad joined, when he got back from work. On mom’s days off, she’d be in bed all day, resting from all those hard days at work. Sharing beds isn’t something that I really mind, even if the person I’m sharing with, is Henry Cavill.

‘You’re awake,’ I hear Henry’s deep voice and I look to my left, to see him standing up from a chair. He sits on the edge of the mattress, sinking into the soft material. ‘How are you?’

‘I don’t know,’ I mumble, pushing myself up straight. I’m not in the muddy clothes anymore and I look at Henry again, slightly worried and ashamed. Did he undress me?

‘Don’t worry,’ he calmly says, ‘Jennifer went with us. She changed you.’

I clear my throat, as I start fidgeting my hands, one of the many nervous ticks I have. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why?’ Henry asks.

‘We were leading and then…’ I sigh deeply, trying not to think about what happened to me. I never learned how to swim, but I always avoided waters like the plague. During my acting career, I only had to swim once, but I was with David Castañeda, who played my love interest. I let him know that I was scared of water. He promised me he wouldn’t let go and the director actually loved the twist we gave to that swimming pool scene.

However, David knew I was scared of water, but didn’t know I couldn’t swim. Now I told Henry and in a matter of days, the rest of the world will know too, when this episode will air.

Henry doesn’t say anything. I bet he is mad, I think to myself. Fuck, I really let him down, didn’t I?

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, ‘that I let you down.’

His gaze softens. ‘You didn’t,’ he tells me. ‘I shouldn’t have pushed. I should’ve calmed you down. It was obvious that it really scared you.’ Henry sighs deeply. ‘But Adelaide… Why can’t you swim?’ he asks.

I could tell him. The whole world will know I can’t swim in the near future, why not tell them the entire story? ‘We didn’t have the money back when I was younger to go for swimming lessons,’ I say. ‘And I haven’t had the chance to do it now.’

Henry nods. ‘There is a pool in the backyard,’ he says, a telling smile toying on his face. ‘How about, over the course of these two weeks, you and I try it. It’s not deep and I’m there with you every second.’

‘Why?’

He shrugs, as if he is a little embarrassed that he offered, but he shouldn’t be. It’s just that I’m surprised, because the last time someone offered something like that to me… That was so long ago. I think it was when I still lived at home. I always do everything myself and people on set know that I tend to be very independent, so they don’t try. But Henry doesn’t ask or offer, he just does it. In the days that I’ve come to know him, he has been nothing but a gentleman. He made me breakfast and when we were cooking dinner, the oil was splashing over the pan. Before I could step aside, Henry grabbed another pan to shield me from the hot oil. The way he lifted me up during the obstacle course when I couldn’t reach the bars and how he caught me when I fell.

‘Well,’ he says, ‘because I think everyone should know how to swim.’

I smile and say: ‘Well, let’s consider it,’ I say. ‘We finished last, didn’t we?’

‘Yeah, we did,’ he says. ‘But don’t apologize for it, please. I don’t want you to feel bad about it. We were really great during this first challenge, so we’ll climb our way back to the top.’ Henry sends me a dashing smile and I can’t help but blush a little bit. ‘How about you get ready for tonight, then I’ll go and make you something to eat.’

‘Ready for tonight?’

‘Trivia night,’ he says.

I nod. I can’t seem to tear my eyes from him, as I look into his soft eyes. When I first met him, I thought he had that stern look in his face and I still did think that from time to time, but in those days that we spend together, it never looked like this. ‘Right, I’ll get myself ready.’

After a fifteen minute shower, I get dressed in a jeans skirt, with a simple black shirt that I tugged in. I paired it with the same white sneakers I wore the first day. I keep my hair and make-up pretty simple.

Henry made some sandwiches. I never knew that I thought it was attractive that a man could cook, but I sure do know now. Come to think of this, I never really thought about what I wanted for traits in a man.

My parents were happy with one another, but I feared that one day, I ended up like them. Poor, overworked, with two kids and a husband, who maybe felt—just like my dad—that he had to take care of us. Besides, I never experienced love. I never fallen in love, I only had on stage kisses and sex scenes. It was never real.

Maybe I’m way ahead of myself, but I feel something. I feel cared for. I feel noticed. I feel appreciated. Like I’m worth it. And that’s all thanks to Henry Cavill.

◎◎◎

Everyone seems concerned about me, but after I reassure everyone I am okay, we take place at three different tables, one for each duo. I take a seat on the chair. It’s a little colder than I imagined and I curse myself for not bring a jacket with me. I rub my upper arms as the crew is setting everything up, checking if our mics are working well enough, making sure the screen works.

Henry stands up as he wiggles out of his cosy vest, before placing it without a word on my shoulders.

‘Oh, that’s not necess— uh… needed,’ I say to him.

‘I’m not cold,’ he tells me, as he sits down next to me again. I want to stop my smile, but I can’t help it.

‘Thank you, Henry,’ I say in a soft tone, as if I don’t want him to hear me, but seeing how the corners of his mouth curl up, I know that he heard me.

The game is pretty simple: there is a host who asks a question and you have to answer it. It’s fairly easy and I almost feel like they are taking it easier because of me.

Every team has a button in front of them and ours meows like a cat.

‘What country won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930?’ the hosts asks.

 _Meow_. ‘Uruguay,’ I answer, as I retract my hand from the button. .

Even the host seems impressed. ‘That is correct.’ On the screen behind him, I see that we are actually first now, with only one point, but it feels nice to be ahead of someone else, because of what I did. ‘Okay, next question. Which boxer was known as “the Great—’

 _Meow._ That is not because of me, but because Henry slammed the button a little harder. Guess he doesn’t know how strong he is. ‘Muhammed Ali,’ he answers.

‘Correct.’ Why does the host not seem impressed now? Okay, this is nothing to be surprised about, so I should stop letting the subtle differences in reaction get to my head. It’s true, I’m pretty stupid according to the public.

And besides, we only had two questions and I had one right.

‘What animals have the longest gestation period?’

No one presses the button and I tap Henry on his leg. He looks at me and I usher him closer. ‘What is a gestation period?’

‘Pregnancy,’ he whispers, his hot breath against my lips, that start to tingle as a response. I shouldn’t get distracted because of that.

 _Meow_. ‘An African Elephant,’ I answer.

We are ahead now with three points. I can’t help but beam with pride. Maybe the public will think a little more highly of me now.

‘What does HTTP stand for?’

 _Meow_. ‘HyperText Transfer Protocol,’ Henry says with a smile.

‘What year was the first model of the iPhone released?’

 _Meow._ ‘2007,’ Henry answers with ease.

He knows a lot, I think to myself. I look to the side for a second and I wonder what goes on in his head, right now and basically every single time we’re just alone. He can look at me in a way that I can’t explain and I don’t even understand why he looks at me like that.

We continue to answer multiple questions correctly and the _meow_ is one of the only sounds that we hear. By the time we reached ten points, I discovered that Charlie and Jennifer’s sound is a bark and when we reached fifteen points, I found out that the Biebers’ sound was a chicken.

Who were the founders of Adidas? (Rudolf and Adolf Dassler—I knew this one.) Some Greek mythology questions that I knew nothing about, but Henry did and he seemed so giddy to explain it all to us, though no one seemed cared, besides me probably, because I could listen to this man for days on end. Together we knew the seven world wonders, who the Danish author was who wrote many fairy tales and they even asked us what Superman’s birth name was…

While Superman is in the room.

We are way ahead of everyone with twenty points, Charlie and Jennifer have ten (who knew that babies weren’t born with kneecaps—for knowing that alone I feel like they should win) and Justin and Hailey have nine. But the next question we can think about for a few seconds and it’s worth fifteen points. So we either become second or first, depends on how well we do.

‘Name these chemical elements of the periodic table. Ge, Sn, Rf, K and Ba.’

Henry places his arm on the back of my chair and leans over. Gosh, he is really close. Not that I’m complaining, but feeling his body heat so close to mine and it’s not even acting… Why does that make me feel all sorts of things?

‘Ge is Geranium,’ he whispers, ‘and Ba and Barium.’

‘K is Potassium,’ I say in a soft tone. ‘So we only have Sn and Rf left. Sn is Tin.’

‘You know a lot,’ he says with a smile.

Does he mean that? Did he just say I know a lot? Me, the Hollywood ditz? ‘Rf is Rutherfordium,’ I whisper.

 _Meow_. Henry presses the button and he looks at me, non verbally asking me if I want to answer this, but I simply shake my head. He names them in order and everyone seems impressed, but before they can give him a compliment (I know the host is desperate to call him ‘Handsome Henry with a Brain’ again. He did it seven times already and it was annoying the first time, let alone the seventh time), Henry says: ‘I only knew Geranium and Barium. Adelaide is the real genius here.’

◎◎◎

It’s twelve ‘o clock when Henry and I are in bed, both staring at the ceiling. Normally I’m in bed long before he is, but today we’re awake in the bed together. The only reason why I get into bed early, is that I hope I can fall asleep before he gets in.

But not today.

‘I have something I want to ask you,’ Henry says. ‘I’ve been thinking about this for awhile.’

‘Okay?’

‘Are you dyslexic?’

He could’ve given me a slap across my face and that wouldn’t have shocked me as much as this question. I push myself up, so I’m sitting. ‘Why?’

‘Just wondering.’

I simply shrug. ‘I don’t know. I never got tested back in school.’

‘Why not?’ Henry sits up straight as well and from the corners of my eyes, I see him placing his pillow on the headboard. That one curl covers part of his forehead and it’s almost a signature look when we are in the cottage.

‘The teachers didn’t care and we didn’t have a lot of money,’ I explain. It feels weird and uncomfortable to open up to him, however on the other hand, it feels right to have this out in the open. ‘And I don’t want to get tested now,’ I whisper. ‘I’m an adult, I can manage.’ I finally force myself to look over my shoulders, only to see that same soft look in his eyes, that I almost grown accustomed to. ‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ he whispers. ‘I just want to say to you that I underestimated you and—’

I can’t help but chuckle. ‘You are not the only one,’ I interrupt him. ‘It’s okay.’

‘No, Adelaide, it’s not okay.’

The sternness in his voice, make me turn around on the mattress completely, so I can look at him. ‘I did it myself, Henry. Really, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.’

Henry moistens his lips, before he clears his throat. ‘Then I won’t worry about it. Just know that I—now—think very highly of you.’

‘You don’t need to,’ I say as a frown appears between my brows. ‘Henry, what is really the case?’

He rubs his face, resists even and he actually looks really frustrated. ‘It’s just that I’m trying to figure you out, but I can’t seem to actually get to know you.’

‘There is not much to know,’ I say, but he shakes his head and says: ‘There is. You are so intriguing, Adelaide, you don’t even know it.’

I don’t really know what to say. He thinks there is much to know about me and that I’m intriguing? ‘Oh.’

‘And I get that it can be hard to open up, truly, I know, but… We have to work together. Wouldn’t it be better if we knew something about each other?’

Okay, that’s a fair point. ‘You tell me something first,’ I say to him.

‘Like what?’ he says, genuinely looking relieved that I’m going along with it.

I tilt my head as I look in his eyes as I take in the brown spot on his left eye, that is surrounded by a beautiful blue. ‘You want to win?’

Henry frowns, probably confused by my question, but when he sees I’m dead serious, he nods. ‘Of course,’ he says, ‘I’m competitive. Why was that your question?’

‘Because now I know that I have to work extra hard not to let you down. It doesn’t really matter to me if I win or not.’

‘You won’t let me down, Adelaide.’

‘I did already,’ I say, ‘and don’t try to convince me otherwise. Now, what do you want to know about me?’

He tilts his head and says: ‘You have a nickname?’

And he thought my question was a bit weird? I snort. ‘My parents called me Dasom. That’s my Korean name.’

‘Really?’ he asks. ‘I didn’t know that.’

 _No one knows that_. ‘But other than that I don’t really have a nickname. People call me Park every now and then, but that’s it.’

‘What does Dasom mean?’

‘Love,’ I whisper. ‘Because, as my parents always say: I was born out of pure love.’ I roll my eyes, because I hate the cliché, but thankfully I was born out of love. It meant that I was welcomed in their lives, though they were poor and barely had anything.

‘That’s sweet,’ he says. ‘So, no one called you Addy for example?’

‘Come to think of it, Keanu Reeves called me Addy every now and then. Especially when we were doing stunts for the movie and he had to encourage me.’

‘Can I call you Addy?’

The fact that he asks me if he can call me Addy, shows me that he is so much more than the news outlets let him to be. Of course, he is handsome, but there is more than just looks. He is intelligent, caring and a real gentleman. Though he can look slightly intimidating, he is a big softie. ‘I would like that, Henry.’

As much as I want to sleep, I can’t. I’m too awake for that, maybe because of the thrill that we are actually ahead of the others now. Who knows how long that will last…

‘You want to do something?’ Henry suggests. ‘I’m not as tired as I figured I would be.’

‘Like what?’

‘You want to swim?’

◎◎◎

Henry is already swimming laps in the pool, as I try to build up the courage to actually walk out of the door to the pool. I have a large towel wrapped around me, to hide my red and white striped bathing suit.

I can do this, I think to myself. I wore a skimpy bikini for a movie, I’ve been naked on sets with the crew around me. This isn’t too hard.

I walk out of the cottage and see that Henry leans with his under arms on the edge of the pool, placing his chin on one of them. ‘There you are,’ he says with a smile.

I dip my toe in the water and start to shiver, goosebumps appearing on my entire body. ‘It’s cold,’ I mumble. ‘And it looks too deep.’

‘It’s not. It’s only one meter sixty.’

‘I’m one fifty,’ I retort. ‘What if I drown?’

‘I’m not letting that happen,’ he says. ‘I promise you, Addy.’

The use of that nickname, makes my feel all sorts of things. Normally I’m not too keen on nicknames, but I could get used to this.

I fold the towel, before I place it on the floor and I sit on the edge of the pool, as my legs dangle in the cold water. Henry bumps his elbow against the side of my thigh and he asks: ‘Ready?’

Maybe it’s because of the dim lighting of the lanterns outside, or the reflection of the water, but he looks even more ethereal than other times. My eyes fall on his beautifully formed lips, that curl up in a smile.

‘I am,’ I say.

He stands in front of me and I place my hands on his broad and tight shoulders. I shimmy myself off the edge, into the cold water. Despite the fact that his large hands in the dips of my waist, makes me all warm from the inside, the water is really cold. Henry starts to laugh, probably because I scrunch up my entire face like I’m a Sharpei dog. ‘Maybe you should keep breathing, because I can’t have it that you pass out on me twice within one week.’

‘Shut up,’ I shiver, as I hold on tightly to his shoulders. ‘You’re not going to let me go, right?’ I ask, just in case.

‘Of course not,’ he whispers.

For a second I envision we’re having a moment together, but then I realize that’s not the case, because he takes a step backwards and we are further away from the edge. I can still reach over to my left, so I’m directly at the other edge, but it does terrify me a bit.

‘Henry,’ I say.

‘Yes?’

‘I’m scared.’

‘I know,’ he tells me, squeezing my waist to let me know that he is there. ‘But there is no need for you to be scared. You just have to grow comfortable in the water and that takes time.’ Henry’s voice is soft and I have to take a deep breath. ‘You’re doing great.’ He slowly takes more steps backwards and smiles at me, as if he knows that that comforts me.

After two laps of him walking backwards and me moving my legs (I don’t know why I do that, but it just happens), I feel more and more accustomed to the water. Still, I don’t want to let go of Henry for one single second, because the fear that I might drown is still there. For the other two laps, he wraps his arm around my waist, as I hold onto the edge and my other arm around his shoulder.

Henry lifts me on the edge, before he hoists himself next to me. He reaches behind him to grab my towel and wrap it securely around my shoulders. ‘How was it?’ he asks.

‘It was good,’ I admit. ‘I mean, I still don’t want to swim myself, but it’s not that scary anymore.’ I look to the side, only to discover that he was already looking at me. From the looks of it, he is looking at my lips, but I must’ve hallucinated that. ‘Thank you,’ I say, to break the silence between us.

‘You’re welcome,’ he says, his voice low.

I smile, before I stand up and hurry back inside. I was making that up, wasn’t I? He wasn’t totally staring at my lips?

Or was he?

◎◎◎

## After the first episode was aired, showing the first few days of the duos together, these were the favorite tweets of the producers of ‘the Celebrity Project’

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Henry can’t say many positive things about ‘The Celebrity Project’, but the fact that they edited a very decent first episode in a matter of twenty four hours, so it could air, is very impressive. It covered the days up to the late night swim. Though the swim was pulled out of context and he hated that (one of the reasons actually he didn’t want to join: reality tv is never reality) the editors made it seem like they were a couple.

Henry realized that they left out the ‘dyslexia question’ he asked her about. Why would they want to do that? Did she specifically asked for them to keep that out or do they not want people to understand her a bit better? He did realize that he had a lot more understanding for her and the way she handles interviews.

Henry walks around the cottage, hoping to find Adelaide, because he saw the new challenge on the coffee table and he can’t to do it alone. He hears her humming from the bathroom. The door is wide open and he catches her standing on a little stool so she can actually see herself in the mirror. He can’t help but smile.

Adelaide owns a huge variety of cute pajamas and today she is wearing a pink short with little avocado’s on it, with a matching shirt. ‘What are you doing?’ he asks, leaning against the doorframe.

She looks up, dots of her night creme spread over her face and flashes him a smile. After they swam in the pool, he felt the desperate need to win slowly slipping through his fingers, as if the dream of becoming James Bond was like desert sand. What was happening to him? He turns in a pile of mush whenever Adelaide is around him.

Yesterday, when the first episode would air, all the duos made dinner with each other and watched the episode together. While they were making dinner, he kept holding himself back, to not pull everything from Adelaide’s hands. It was ridiculous. He knows that she is a mature, independent woman and that she can totally manage.

‘Skin care,’ she says, as she massages in the creme. ‘What are you… here? Doing here?’

They have spend so much time together, that she grows more comfortable around him and of course she makes slip ups every now and then, but her cheeks don’t turn into a fiery red as they used to.

‘We have a challenge downstairs. Figured we should do that.’

‘Of course.’ Adelaide flicks off the light and together they walk down the stairs. She notices the stuff spread out on the table. The two empty wine glasses, the red wine that he got from the cellar and the cards to get to know one another. She takes a chip and plops on the couch. ‘What is it?’

‘Get to know cards,’ he says, trying to hide his wide smile, but he simply can’t. This is what he wanted. He wanted to get to know Adelaide and though they have become closer over the course of the days, she is a professional in not going too deep into her family life and her personal life in general. He sits close to her, her feet almost touching his thigh.

Yesterday, when they all were watching the first episode, she kicked off her sneakers and was almost hiding underneath a blanket. Her feet were warming underneath his leg. He didn’t think she noticed what she did, but as soon as she did, she started softly apologizing, but he simply shook his head and said it was okay. It was well hidden underneath the blanket and despite the warm weather, her feet were really cold.

Henry grabs her ankles and places her feet on his lap, after he poured in the wine in the glasses and gave her one. ‘Ready?’ he asks, placing his hand on her ankle.

‘I think I am.’ Adelaide looks right in his eyes, but he notices her lips pursed together.

‘If you don’t want to answer it, you don’t have to,’ he tells her. ‘Remember that, okay?’

‘Same goes…’ She carelessly gestures to him, but he got the message. _Same goes for him._

‘What is your most unusual talent?’ he asks and he visibly sees her relax when she realizes that these are the types of questions. ‘Want to know mine?’ Maybe that’ll ease her mind even more if he starts.

‘Yes, please.’

‘I can do make a four leave clover with my tongue.’ He shows off the ridiculous thing and Adelaide places her hand in front of her mouth.

‘That’s so weird,’ she chuckles. ‘I can’t even do the roll thing with my tongue.’ She sticks out her tongue, almost looking crossed eyed as she tries to roll her tongue. A laugh leaves his lips. He likes it when she’s goofy with him, it shows him that she trusts him. ‘My unique talent is that I can hit a whistle tone.’ Knowing that he wants to hear it, she clears her throat, does some vocal exercises and goes from a pretty high note, all the way to a whistle tone.

‘Damn,’ he mutters out. ‘So I take it that you can sing too.’

She shrugs. ‘Hardly.’

‘Sing something for me,’ he says with a smile.

‘That wasn’t a question on the _get to know me_ -cards.’ She takes the first one out of his hands and says: ‘Next one.’

 _He’ll get her to sing_.

‘Next question,’ he says, getting another card of the deck. ‘Sing the first song that comes to mind.’ Henry can’t help but laugh, throwing his head back against the wall.

‘It does not say that,’ Adelaide says, snatching the card out of his hands. She frowns as she reads the question and she pouts as she realizes it does say exactly that. ‘This is just mean.’

‘I’ll go first,’ he says. The first song that comes to mind, after totally blanking for five whole seconds is the most ridiculous song he has ever thought of in his entire life and that is all thanks to his mom who played this non stop when he and his brothers were growing up.

_Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war_

_Waterloo, promise to love you for ever more_

Henry doesn’t get further than two sentences, because he bursts out in laughter when he catches Adelaide’s eye, who is trying her hardest to not laugh at him. He never heard his voice this squeaky and shaky and hides his face in his hand. ‘I’m so sorry you had to listen to that.’

‘Why are you singing Waterloo by Abba? How is that the first song that comes to mind?’

‘It’s all my mothers fault. She used to listen to that song all the time.’

She simply cocks an eyebrow.

‘I blanked, okay and this was the first I could think of. You sing something now.’

Adelaide looks like she is trying to think of all different types of excuses, but knows deep down that she can’t get out of this.

_You’re the only one that saves me when I’m alone_

_You’re the only love that I’ve ever known_

_But we turned into a flower that never grows_

_I was hiding like the moonlight that never shows_

_I should’ve told you that I loved you_

_One more time, one more time, one more time_

She wasn’t looking at him when she sang, but after she said the last “one more time”, their eyes meet and her voice slowly fades out. She had a lovely tone, a warm, nearly hoarse singing voice.

He really does not want her to stop, but he can’t force Adelaide to sing more. The fact that she sang six beautiful sentences to him already, is something he should cherish. ‘Wow,’ he admits. ‘You have a beautiful voice.’

Adelaide doesn’t take the compliment. She simply gestures for the next question. He wants to overload her with compliments, about how she should record an album and he would buy it in a heartbeat, but he decides to listen to her and grab a new question.

‘What celebrity would you most want to sit next to on an airplane?’ he asks.

She smiles. ‘Easy: you.’

‘Me?’ Henry asks, placing his hand on his chest. ‘Why me?’

Adelaide simply shrugs, as a blush appears on her cheeks. ‘I like you.’

 _She likes him?_ The smile on his face, is inevitable.

‘But you can pick any celebrity you want,’ he says, ‘and you already know me.’

‘I know,’ she tells him, ‘but I’m not really looking to get to know someone new. I’d rather learn more about people that I already know.’

That is _adorable_ , especially since it’s in the combination with her cheeks turning slightly pink.

‘Who would you like to sit next to on an airplane?’ she asks him.

‘You, of course. We could play some of these cards. You could maybe sing for me.’

‘Shut up,’ she chuckles.

He grins, probably like an idiot and the hidden camera’s here most likely pick up on it. ‘What’s a weird family tradition you have?’

‘Can we skip that one?’ she asks in tiny font. ‘Please?’

He actually doesn’t want to, but he simply nods, taking a sip of his wine. ‘If you joined the circus, what would your act be? I’d be a lion tamer for sure,’ he chuckles. ‘I’d love that.’

‘I could see that happen,’ she says. ‘Especially in a nice costume they always wear. I want to be one of those flexible people.’

‘A contortionist?’ he asks. ‘Why?’

‘That’s fun. Here, see this.’ She straightens her arm in front of her, holding her hand as if she’s telling you non verbally to stop. She turns her hand ninety degrees to the side, another ninety, another ninety, before she actually turned her hand a full 360 degrees.

‘No, no, no,’ he says, as he sees her hand totally twist back to normal. He takes her wrist in his hand, checking her elbow and her shoulder, to see if it’s all okay. ‘That can’t be normal.’

‘Little trick I taught myself back in the day and if you keep it up, you can still do it when you’re older.’ She nods, emphasizing that that it’s true.

‘I believe you.’ He grabs the next question card. ‘Think of a warning label for the other person.’

‘Yours would say…’ Adelaide purses her lips and says: ‘Something about: beware of the charms, because you are by far the most charming man I’ve ever met.’

Henry shouldn’t be blushing, but on the other hand: this is the nicest compliment he has gotten in years. The host of that stupid trivia game kept calling him ‘Handsome Henry with a Brain’ and it annoyed the shit out of him. Being called charming, especially by someone like Adelaide, is something he never knew he wanted this much. ‘That’s sweet, Addy. Yours would be: will kill you with her adorableness.’

She hides her face in her hands, but he is thankful that she does that, since it gives him a moment to hide his own blush.

He finds out a lot about her. She’d rather have teeth as hair, then hair as her teeth (something that he completely agrees with). If she could talk to an animal, she’d talk to a koala because they are so cute, while he would want to talk to Kal. She can’t reach her nose with her tongue, while he on the other hand can.

But he also discovers that she really must have a low tolerance when it comes to alcohol, because after just finishing her glass, she is becoming more and more tired and he watches her drifting off to sleep. He slowly lifts up her legs, so he can stand up. Her neck is craned in a weird position, and he doesn’t want her to feel that in the morning. He lifts her up and carries her to bed. When he placed her on the mattress, she immediately turns around to hug the pillows.

Henry checks the locks and turns off the lights, before he steps into the bed as well. When the room goes completely dark, he hears the soft breathing of Adelaide and he feels her fingers against his arm. He looks to the side, only to see that she is still asleep.

He smiles, before closing his eyes to fall asleep.

◎◎◎

The next morning Henry wakes up because Adelaide nudges him awake. She is all dressed up and ready for the day. He stares at her in a lovely white dress, her short light brown hair dancing around her face. The smile on her face is infectious, because he feels one appear on his own face. ‘Good morning,’ she says. ‘I made you breakfast.’

‘You did?’ Henry sits up straight, rubs his face and says: ‘I usually make you breakfast.’

Adelaide nods. ‘I know, but I wanted to do something for you. You know… In return.’ She tells him to hurry and she nearly skips out of the room. He quickly puts on some sweatpants and socks, checking his phone in the process.

 **Richard:** You are definitely doing everything you can to win, now do you?

Why is his agent messaging him? He barely messages him.

 **Henry:** What do you mean?

 **Richard:** I mean, I know you. We’ve been working together for years now. You don’t actually like her now, do you?

 **Henry:** Well, I enjoy her company. I mean, it’s best for me to make most out of it, right?

 **Richard:** That’s not an answer to my question. You like her?

 **Henry:** I like being around her, yes.

 **Richard** : Don’t go catching feelings for her now, Cavill. When you lose, who are you going to blame then?

Henry stares at his phone. Shouldn’t he catch feelings for her? Is that even what he is doing? He meant what he told his agent: he enjoys her company and likes being around her.

But he also _likes_ her. A lot.

He quickly walks downstairs and when he is in the living room, he discovers that Adelaide knows exactly about his preferences. She made orange juice and four sandwiches for him, while she only made two for herself. He also spots some boiled eggs in the middle, some watermelon and even tofu.

‘Wow,’ he says, impressed by the amount of food and how well she actually knows him. This isn’t helping for the not catching feelings, if he even wanted to do that. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

He takes a seat, just like her and takes a sip of the orange juice. It’s weird, but everything always tastes better when it’s made by someone else. They eat, Henry in his own tempo, while she goes in a much slower pace, as usual.

They have established a certain routine already, a morning routine, a night routine—it’s all so domestic and it isn’t even awkward or forced.

‘I read the next challenge and we’re going on a…’ Her voice drifts off and he sees her frown, as she is moving her lips, syllable for syllable. ‘Sca-ven-ger hunt.’

Henry smiles, proud of how quickly she does it. It usually takes a bit more time. ‘That sounds like fun.’

‘Probably with a twist again,’ she says, taking a bite of tofu.

He can’t help but be amused with how she eats, almost like a hamster. She pouts her lips as she chews, staring into the space. He wonders why she eats so slowly, why she doesn’t even talk his ear off?

Was he disappointed yesterday that she did’t answer that question about a weird family tradition? Sure, but he told her himself that if she doesn’t want to answer anything, she doesn’t need to. And she felt safe enough to tell him her boundaries.

After they ate, he reads the card and he quickly gets ready for real this time. When he comes back, he sees her sitting on the couch, her posture amazing as always. He grabs the keys and he sees she actually has a brown paper bag filled with goods as she stands up.

For a few moments Henry thinks that they are just going on a trip together, no camera’s, just them. He can see it happen: going to the beach, with the snacks Adelaide packed and just enjoying the sun.

But when he opens the car door for her and sees not only the carseat and the camera’s, he realizes again he is on the Celebrity Project.

◎◎◎

They have to drive for at least an hour and it’s actually Adelaide that turns on the radio. They hear One Direction’s Best Song Ever and Henry doesn’t want to admit that he knows this song by heart and that it’s his favorite song by the former band.

He doesn’t want to sing it, but then he hears Adelaide’s beautiful voice sing: ‘Maybe it’s the way she walked.’

He can’t help but to growl out: ‘Wow!’

She opens her mouth to sing the second line, but the ‘wow’ stops her and she looks to the side. ‘Oh my, is Henry Cavill a Directioner?’

‘Please don’t call it that,’ he says, a blush appearing on his cheeks. Great, if they put this in the next episode (and they will, Henry knows for sure), the whole world will know that Henry Cavill is a Directioner.

‘This is cute,’ Adelaide laughs. ‘Tell me, who was your favorite.’

Knowing he can’t get out of this, he mumbles: ‘Harry.’

‘Figured.’

‘Yours?’

‘Niall Horan,’ she says. She places her hand on his forearm for a brief moment. ‘No need to blush, Henry. It’s quite cute.’

Adelaide continues to sing and Henry decides to just sing along, not caring anymore about his singing voice. They even sing a few ABBA songs and the song she actually sang yesterday, “I should’ve told you’’ by Fiji Blue. He had never heard of it, but he concludes that her voice is beyond beautiful and fits this type of song perfectly.

‘Our voices go well together,’ she admits, after their duet of ‘Beauty and the Beast’, the official version of Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. ‘When you’re not singing ABBA songs, you have a nice voice.’

He pinches her in her side, causing her to squeal. ‘Careful now, Addy,’ he chuckles. ‘Otherwise I have to push you off your carseat.’

‘Mean,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘Maybe after this, you could participate in those shows where celebrities who aren’t singers, go on and sing songs for charity as well.’

‘Only if you are my partner,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to go alone.’

Adelaide frowns, before she nods. ‘We do work good together, don’t we?’

‘We do,’ he says.

She stares at him for a few seconds, he can see it out of the corners of his eyes. ‘Can we stop for a minute?’ she asks, pointing to a gas station. ‘I have to pee.’

He gets off the lane, parks the car and together they walk inside. A crew follows them, after they parked the car that drove behind them the entire time. Adelaide rushes to the bathroom and he goes on and buys some bottles of water and an iced coffee. The man behind the counter is pretty nice and they talk a bit about the show, but when Adelaide walks out of the bathroom, shaking her hands dry, the man completely ignores Henry. ‘Miss Adelaide Park?’ The man gets away from behind the counter, brings some paper towels for Adelaide and hands them to her. ‘I’m big fan.’

‘Oh,’ she says with a smile, drying her hands. ‘That’s sweet.’

‘I loved all your movies, but ‘Remembering High School.’ He kisses his fingers. ‘Amazing. I watch over and over.’

Henry leans against the counter and he can’t help but smile.

‘Really? What is your… favorite episode?’

‘Where you graduate. Very sweet, very beautiful and emotional. Me and girlfriend cry a lot about it.’

He wants to take a picture with Adelaide and Henry offers to take it for them. Adelaide actually stands on her tippy toes, to look a bit taller. The man is very happy to have met Adelaide and she even records a little video for the man’s girlfriend, something that Henry never thought of doing.

He did see some fan videos on YouTube of Adelaide with fans and it always warmed his heart. The way she takes her time.

Adelaide manages to tear herself away from the man and the two of them get back in the car. ‘Did he even notice that you were Superman?’ she asks.

He shakes his head. ‘I mean, I’m pretty famous, but nowhere near as famous as you are.’

‘That’s not true,’ she says, as he drives off.

For a few seconds, he places his hand on her thigh. ‘It is, Addy and you can admit it. No need to be humble about that.’

◎◎◎

Their first challenge contains eating certain cuisines from all over the world and in order to win, both of them have to take a bite of every dish. Every person has one pass, but if they don’t use it, they get even extra points.

Henry rubs his hands together, because he likes to broaden his horizon when it comes to food and this seems like an easy challenge to win. He isn’t afraid of trying out new things and he wonders what Adelaide is like with different types of cuisines.

Adelaide takes off the silver cover off the food. Instead of water running out of his mouth in anticipation, Henry nearly gags when his eyes fall on the first dish. ‘What on earth is that?’ he asks, placing his hand over his mouth.

Adelaide grabs the card and without looking away from the dish, she hands him the piece of paper says: ‘I think it’s on here. It looks like a spider.’

Henry clears his throat, before he reads the card. ‘It’s a fried tarantula and it originated from Colombia. It’s crispy on the outside, and gooey on the inside.’

Adelaide grabs one by its paw and holds it front of her, inspecting the snack.

‘They also say it tastes a bit like chicken,’ he continues. ‘Can I use my pass already? Because this is— Oh fuck, Adelaide, what are you doing?’

Full of disgust he stares at the petite woman in front of him, who actually took a bite of the most unappetizing looking snack ever. Did she actually just do that or is he hallucinating? He sure hopes it’s the latter.

However she looks up and says: ‘It does taste like chicken. You want to have a bite? It’s really not that bad.’

‘Did you actually just eat that?’ he asks, just in case he was hallucinating.

‘Yes.’ She frowns, staring at him with the biggest: _are you fucking blind_ -face he has ever encountered in his entire life. ‘Come on, don’t be a big fat baby.’ She holds the disgusting looking _fried tarantula_ in front of his mouth. ‘Henry, take a bite.’

‘Is it really not that bad?’ he says, as he feels vomit come up. He can’t seem to do it, because it’s… so disgusting.

‘It’s actually pretty good.’

With a scrunched up face, he opens his mouth, closes it again when he thinks about it for a while and shakes his head. ‘I can’t do it. This is disgusting.’

‘You already want to use your pass? What if the next thing is even more disgusting?’ She frowns. ‘I thought you wanted to win, Henry. Do you give up already?’

 _That is true._ He wants to win and he keeps thinking about her holding him back, but now it’s the other way around. He holds her wrist and brings the disgusting looking snack to his mouth. Only Adelaide scares him by moving the tarantula in front of his mouth. Henry lets out a scream that is much higher than expected and he nearly tumbles backwards. She folds over as she laughs out loud. ‘You should’ve seen your face and what was that scream? You sounded like al little girl.’

‘That is really mean,’ he says, his heart pounding painfully in his throat. He watches as Adelaide places the _thing_ on the tray again and wipes away the tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t believe you did that.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ she laughs, but she doesn’t mean it at all. ‘But I saw my moment and took it. You can’t blame me.’

He chuckles softly, because it was pretty funny and he would’ve done it the exact same thing. It takes him a few seconds, but he quickly takes a bite and chews on it, trying not to taste it.

But Adelaide was right: it does taste like chicken.

The next thing, makes her clap her hands. ‘ _Beondegi_ ,’ she says with a chuckle.

‘You know this dish?’ he asks, looking at the most disgusting pile of _silkworms_ on the plate.

‘My mom made this once.’ Her expressions falters a bit, but before he can comment on that, she says: ‘It’s not that bad, but not great either. It reminded her of home, so that’s why we ate it.’ She grabs a tiny skewer and sticks one on it, before she eats it.

‘You know no fear, now do you?’ he says, a smile appearing on his face, because he is in fact proud of her. ‘How are you such a dare devil?’

‘I can eat everything,’ Adelaide says, simply shrugging. ‘Come on, eat it.’ She sticks another one on the skewer and holds it near his lips. ‘I won’t scare you this time, I promise you.’

He takes a step closer to her and quickly eats it. Oh shit, it has no taste, but the texture makes him shiver. Henry actually doesn’t want to continue this, but she is right: he wants to win and besides, if she can eat it without blinking her eyes twice, so should he, right?

They continue to eat other disgusting things. Adelaide fed him grasshoppers that didn’t taste that bad, except for the surprising juice that came out of it. The frog legs were disgusting and they even ate some crocodile and whale. It is surprising that Adelaide continued to persuade him into eating all those disgusting things, but he has to really. She eats it without hesitation and since he doesn’t want to look like a wimp, he eats it too.

However, he does feel like he needs to throw up any second now.

They are at the last tray and Adelaide steps back when she lifts up the cover. ‘No, I’m not eating that,’ she says.

He stares at the very unappetizing snack on the tray, before he starts to laugh. ‘That’s escargot, Addy.’

‘I know that, but I’m not eating that.’

‘You ate all of that,’—he gestures at the rest of the table—‘but this you won’t eat? What is wrong with you?’

She gives him a push that brings herself out of balance and he has to catch her arms before she tumbles over. ‘Well, this is really disgusting. I mean— Henry, stop laughing.’

‘I can’t help it! You are being ridiculous.’

She grabs the tray and holds it in front of him. ‘Well, eat it first then.’

Adelaide Park, the sweet woman he has come to adore—oh no, is he falling for her?—is actually testing him right now? Is he seeing that correctly?

Henry doesn’t actually want to. ‘How about we use our pass?’

‘If you eat it,’ Adelaide says, ‘I’ll eat it too. Promise.’

He takes something off the plate and barely chews on it, before he eats it. ‘Disgusting,’ he gags.

‘You are a big baby,’ she chuckles, before she takes one off the plate and she eats it without a hitch, though she scrunches up her nose. ‘Strange texture.’

‘I can’t believe you,’ he chuckles. ‘You know no fear.’

◎◎◎

Their next challenge is not one, not two, but three dance classes. The first class is a kids dance class. henry has no idea what kind of song this is, but he feels it’s in the baby shark category. The young Italian kids continue to look over their shoulders, to stare at him, before looking over at Adelaide, who must be less intimidating to them.

After the most tiring hour of his life, Henry becomes the laughingstock of the training, because the little kids insist on him and Adelaide performing the dance. However Adelaide starts to laugh, causing the kids to burst into a fit of giggles, especially when she falls on the floor because of how hard she is laughing at his not so great performance.

After that, they have to attend a line dance class and somehow Henry is a whole lot better in that, than Adelaide is. He holds out his hand for her to take and hoists her right back up when she trips. He never would’ve thought that this was something that he would enjoy, but seeing the alternations between Adelaide’s frown and her infectious laugh, he has to admit that this is nice. The people who are teaching them the dance are friendly and someone even lends out his cowboy hat for Adelaide to wear, completing the look.

With a water bottle in their hands, they walk through the corridors to the next and thankfully final dancing class. ‘This is intense,’ Adelaide comments. ‘But you looked like quite the cowboy, mister Cavill.’

He can’t help but laugh. ‘And you fit right in with the kids. About the same height.’

She slaps his stomach and he chuckles. ‘What do you think is next?’ she asks.

‘I have no idea. Maybe tap?’

She bursts out in laughter. ‘I would pay money to see you tap dance.’

However it’s not tap dancing they are going to do (thankfully), but salsa dancing. The age ratio in this room is probably sixty plus, but these people know exactly how to move. One woman spots them and quickly stops the music. ‘Oh! Superman!’ she exclaims, but when she walks over to them, her eyes fall on Adelaide. ‘Oh my, Adelaide Park. Beautiful woman! So talented. You here for dance class?’

Adelaide nods.

The woman pulls Adelaide into a tight hug. ‘We watched your movies,’ she tells Adelaide, holding her upper arms. ‘You are _fenomenale_!’

Henry watches his partner starting to blush. ‘She is,’ he agrees.

‘My name is Elena.’ She ushers a man over and introduces him as her husband Gianluca. ‘I really look forward to teach you the basics.’

Elena helps him with the basics, while Gianluca is helping out Adelaide. He constantly hears Adelaide apologize for yet again stepping on the older man’s feet, but he doesn’t seem to care.

Salsa is a lot harder than he thought it would be, but Elena is an excellent teacher, who, with her sternness, teaches him exactly what to do. He continues to hear that he apparently has very stiff hips, while he genuinely thought he wasn’t that bad.

‘You know, how you do boom-boom?’ Elena says.

 _Boom-boom?_ ‘What?’

‘Sex!’

The entire room looks over to them and he notices Adelaide trying to hide a smile. Did Elena really have to yell that word out loud? ‘I do know my way around,’ he says, his throat tightening out of discomfort.

‘No hips forward and backwards, but do same thing, same power, but sideways.’

He doesn’t quite understand, but when Elena places her hands on his hips, forcing him to “sway” his hips sideways, he feels pretty uncomfortable, but when he looks over at Adelaide, those discomforts all seem to go away, when he notices her still watching and still smiling.

‘You finally get it,’ Elena says. ‘Gianluca! How did Adelaide do?’

‘Very good. Very talented.’

‘Superman,’ the older woman says, ‘you and Adelaide show us how you can do this.’

Henry’s heart starts to pound painfully fast and he figures the entire room can either see or hear it. Elena pats him on the back, as she tells him to stand in the middle of the dance room. Gianluca escorts Adelaide towards the middle. ‘Nervous?’ Elena asks him.

‘What? No, no, no,’ Henry quickly says, though it’s a lie. He is really nervous.

‘Pretty woman,’ Gianluca says. ‘Intimidating for you. I understand.’

Adelaide looks away, but he notices the smile on her face. She is amused. He holds out his hand after he wiped it dry on his jeans and she places her in his. He pulls her body closer to his, as he places his hand on her back. Her other hand she places on his bicep, as her eyes meet his.

‘Don’t just look,’ Elena says. ‘Dance!’

Dancing with her was easy and out of the corners of his eye he noticed that Adelaide had no problem dancing with Elena’s husband. She was actually a pretty good dancer from what he saw.

Just what he did with the older woman, he does that with Adelaide, but he feels the swaying of her hips underneath the palm of his hand. Henry swallows hard as he leans forward, to place his forehead against hers, her hot breath against his lips.

The older people that were all around them, dancing and laughing at them before, are now all clapping on the beat of the music, but Henry only has eyes for Adelaide Park. He feels her nails in his bicep and he has to swallow, since his throat became real dry all of the sudden.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispers, just in case, because he really doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

‘This is okay,’ she chuckles. ‘You’re a good dancer, Henry.’

Henry feels her body closely against his. Feeling her forehead against his, her lips so close to his… He wonders about her dating history. Her kiss on ‘Remembering High School was her first and after that she lived in the spotlights and she never dated. Well, she never publicly dated and not because she is undateable (she is a whole catch, if Henry is being completely honest), but he thinks that she has been single since the moment she came into the spotlight. Who does that many movies a year and has time to date?

However, when he thinks about it, she is becoming more and more touchy. And not in a weird, sexual harassment sort of way. More in a way as if she is looking for comfort. She slides her feet under his thigh, doesn’t pull back her legs when he places her ankles on his lap and during the night, her fingers keep grazing over his skin.

And now, her hand holds onto his tightly and he notices her fingertips disappear underneath the hem of his sleeve.

The music stops, but he does not let go. He can’t even let go. There are so many things that he want to do. Pull her even closer to his body if that’s possible, to push that strand of hair out of her face and let his thumb graze over the apple of her cheek.

_Don’t go catching feelings for her now. When you lose, who are you going to blame then?_

Henry clears his throat, hoping to get the words of his agent out of his head, but Adelaide must have interpreted differently, because she lets go of him, smiling quickly at him, before turning around and giving Elena a hug.

◎◎◎

## Comments a week later when the episode airs:

  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

I’ve been here in Italy for a week and a half now, but I have to take a small break, because the I had to travel to Switzerland. It was only for two days, to sign some papers and meet up with the director. The filming process isn’t starting for three more months, but it’s nice to know a bit more about it and to finally see the director in real life.

Plus it felt like I finally had time to breath, when I’m not being surrounded by camera’s. Henry and I prerecorded our challenges, so the schedule isn’t messed up.

Two days ago, the second episode aired and I actually liked the way people write about us and me. For once I’m not the ditz, but I’m the daredevil and actually quite smart.

I’m in the back of a taxi, as the driver soars over the roads. Thankfully he can’t hear me because of the plastic that separates us and from the looks of it, he doesn’t want to talk to me. That’s a good thing, because I see my dad wants to FaceTime me. ‘Hi,’ I say when I pick up.

Ever since I have been making a lot of money, he started to look even better and better. Not because I’m paying for his botox, but because he finally can relax. Years of overworking himself, stressing over me and my mom, it took a toll on him. Though he still works hard to make sure my mom is happy, it’s nothing compared to what he had to do.

The smile on my father’s face when he sees me is priceless. Even when I was younger, his entire face would light up when he saw me. I’m happy to know that I still have that effect on my dad, even when there is an ocean in between us and we’re on FaceTime. ‘You look so pretty,’ is the first thing he tells me.

 _He is an absolute sweetheart._ ‘Thank you.’

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m in a taxi, _appa_. I went to Switzerland for my new movie. Now I’m on my way back to Italy, to the cottage I’m staying at.’

‘Right,’ he says. He tilts his head. ‘You okay?’

‘I’m totally fine,’ I tell him. ‘Why? Don’t you like the show?’

He smiles, holding his phone very close to his face, as if he is closer to me then. ‘I do, but you look tired.’

I simply shrug. ‘I’m okay. How is _eomma_? She likes the show?’

Dad nods. ‘She is resting now, but she loves the show. Tell me, you like this Henry guy?’

 _Why am I blushing?_ What a way to give yourself away, Adelaide Park. ‘I like being around him, yes.’

‘Don’t lie,’ he says. ‘I taught you better than to lie to your _appa_. You like like him, right? I can tell, you know. Your smile when you’re with him tells me enough and you do that thing.’

My brows furrow together. ‘What thing?’

‘You touchy.’

‘That sounds perverted,’ I say. ‘And by the way, I’m not touchy.’

‘You are,’ dad tells me and this man is dead serious. ‘You touch his arm in your sleep. You always do that when you sleep, touch the other person. I remember when you were little girl, maybe five, and it was summer. It was very hot. Normally at that age, you always lay next to me, very close, because you were scared. But it was too hot, so you only placed your hand on my arm, because you couldn’t sleep without psychically knowing that I was there.’

I’m so grateful that there are no camera’s around, because this is one way to get exposed.

‘Also, you are happy around him. I haven’t seen you like that in a long time,’ he says with a smile.

I lean my head against the head rest. ‘I’m always happy,’ I tell him. ‘Not just because of him.’

He simply nods. ‘I see you don’t want to talk about it. That’s okay, I understand. You don’t want to talk about your love life with your _appa_.’

‘This is barely a love life,’ I chuckle.

‘It’s more than you have now.’

I purse my lips together, to not burst out into laughter. ‘Thanks for putting it into perspective.’

‘You take good care of yourself?’

‘Yes, dad.’

He nods. ‘I’m very proud of you,’ he says in all seriousness. ‘Only a daughter of mine eats fried spider like it’s nothing.’

I keep thinking about that challenge. It was disgusting, sure, but it’s true what I said: I can eat anything. One time, we didn’t have anything to eat and my dad was desperate. After spending an entire day at school, with only half an apple, I was starving and crying. It was pretty rough weather outside, so he couldn’t go on his usual round of finding food behind the restaurants, something he did when it was a situation like this. He went to the garden and found us some earthworms. My mom refused to eat it, after dad sort of made a meal out of it. She told him she wasn’t going to accept that we were that poor that we needed to eat earthworms.

What was next? He was going to snatch the snails out of the yard? He was going to catch a pigeon? Go fishing in the lake a few kilometers from our house?

They started fighting. My mom was mad at my dad, my dad thought she was being ungrateful. Just to stop them from fighting, I ate the fried earthworm and despite it being disgusting, I was too hungry and needed something in my stomach. It instantly stopped them from fighting and my dad was proud of me eating it. My mom even ate one, because she didn’t want me to think any less of her, she told me years later.

We talk for a bit and then he has to hang up, since he needs to do some groceries. I stare at the picture he send me yesterday. We don’t have many pictures of us from when I was younger, but he actually found the only one we have of the three of us. It was during Christmas. Both him and my mom were home when I was seven and the neighbor came over with her polaroid camera. She made a picture of us and during a clean up session, my dad found it again.

I remember what he texted with the picture: _I loved you when you were born, I loved you when you were my little princess and I still love you now you are my hardworking princess. I’m so proud of you._

I’m pulled out of my thoughts, when I see that Henry wants to FaceTime. I answer the call and see his handsome face appear on my screen. ‘There you are,’ he says, a grin spread across his face. ‘Are you almost home?’

 _Home_. I never had a place that I called home. It was always the people that made a place home. My parents were my home and since I moved out for my career in the acting industry, I have an apartment where I stay, but it’s never a home. I can’t seem to turn it into a home.

But staying in this cottage with Henry, felt homey, but I didn’t dare to call it a home, not wanting to come across weird or desperate.

However Henry does it now and it makes my heart skip a beat.

I look at the navigation screen and say: ‘Forty minutes.’

‘I miss you,’ he admits.

This shouldn’t make me blush like it does right now. I can’t stop my smile. ‘You miss me?’ I teasingly ask.

‘A whole lot, Addy. The place is so quiet without you here.’ He flashes me a dashing smile and sits outside on the doorstep, in the nice evening sun. ‘How was Switzerland?’

‘It was okay,’ I tell him. ‘The place where we are going to shoot is beautiful.’

‘Did the director have someone in mind for the love interest?’

I nod. ‘Yes, he is thinking about asking David Castañeda again. We also starred in another movie together and he liked our chemistry.’

When I told Henry about what the movie was about, he simply raised his eyebrows. It’s about a woman who goes to Switzerland, she is a journalist and needs to write a story about a mysterious man who owns way too many dogs and no one seems to understand him.

I don’t really need to explain how the rest of the movie will go, since it’s still a romantic comedy, thus pretty self explanatory what is going to happen.

‘But if David says no…?’

‘We’re back at square one,’ I say. ‘You sure I can’t pursue you?’

‘You, Addy, can pursue me any day.’ He winks at me, but I don’t understand the joke. ‘I think you wanted to _persuade_ me, not _pursue_ me.’

Oh shit, this is embarrassing. I’m tempted to open the car door while we’re going this fast, simply to throw myself out. ‘Yeah, I meant persuade. Sorry, English is hard.’

Henry smiles, but it disappears when he looks at me on his screen and he tilts his head in the process. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You have watery eyes.’

I clear my throat, before I blink away the tears in my eyes, because I indeed have watery eyes. ‘Really, it’s fine.’

‘Sure?’

Though I want to tell him a bit more about my private life, the words never roll out of my mouth. Like something is physically stopping me. However, now I say: ‘My dad called me. Just wanted to know how I was.’

Henry nods. ‘When was the last time you saw him?’

‘Think eight months ago. I just miss him a lot, just like I miss my mom.’

‘Understandably so.’ He leans against the doorframe, while he simply stares at his screen. ‘What did they think of the show?’

‘They liked it, but they like every single thing I’m in. They rewatch interviews, movies and episodes of Remembering High School when they miss me.’ I smile, thinking about the millions of videos that my dad send me of them rewatching episodes. He would film himself and say sweet things about how his daughter is the most talented one on the screen, or that his daughter is the prettiest. I know that he sends those videos to me, but he also sends them to friends. ‘I think I just realized now how much I miss them.’

‘That’s totally understandable,’ Henry says. ‘Are you going to visit them once this is over?’

‘I think so.’

Henry smiles. ‘Well, they can be proud of you and they should be. I am proud of you too,’ he says. ‘I mean, you totally put me to shame with that food challenge. I even got a message from Angela Bassett, saying how you are by far the coolest and that I’m a wimp.’

I chuckle. ‘That’s sweet and she is right.’

We talk for a while and those forty minutes fly by. The taxi stops in front of the cottage and Henry stands up with a bright smile. He always looks so happy to see me. The chauffeur hands me my bag and after I thanked him, he gets in again and drives off. Henry walks over to me and snakes his arms around my waist, lifting me up after he pulled me close to his body. ‘I’m happy to know that you aren’t going to leave me here again in this cottage,’ he says. ‘It felt like every second went by at least seven times.’

Sure, what he said was sweet, but I can’t seem to focus on those words, since this is the tightest hug someone has given me, apart from my parents of course. This is actually the first time he is hugging me. I press my nose in his shoulder, taking in his familiar scent and I close my eyes.

I’m really home now.

He lets go of me way too quickly. ‘I made you dinner.’

‘Really?’ I ask. ‘What did you make me?’

‘Pasta bolognese. When in Rome, right?’ He points a daring finger at me and says: ‘Don’t you dare say we aren’t in Rome.’

‘I wouldn’t dare,’ I chuckle. He holds out his hand and I give him my bag, before we walk into the cottage. During dinner, I tell him more about the movie and how beautiful the little town was where we’re going to film.

‘Isn’t it tiring, though?’ Henry asks. ‘To constantly play in romantic comedies?’

He asked me this before, but I didn’t know him that well to answer truthfully. Now I do know him well enough, to at least be sort of honest, without sounding like an ungrateful bitch. I simply shrug. ‘Sometimes I wished I would get other offers, but I guess I just have the face for romantic comedies.’

‘What kind of genre would you like to play in?’

‘Like a thriller or an action movie,’ I say. ‘More serious, you know? Maybe even Lara Croft one day. That would be amazing.’

‘You would nail Lara Croft,’ he says. ‘I feel like you have a lot of potential to play in tons of different movies. You would do great in a drama too, but a thriller is something I would like you to star in. Really different from what you do now.’

‘Don’t you ever want to play in a romantic comedy or something really serious?’ I ask him. ‘A drama for example?’

‘I would like to try it out one day,’ he says.

‘I think you would be great in a romantic comedy. You have that charm that women fall for.’

Henry cocks an eyebrow. ‘A charm you say?’

‘Yeah, exactly.’ I smile at him, stirring through my pasta. ‘What is a role you really want to portray one day? I mean, you already played Superman, that was pretty awesome.’

He nods. ‘Maybe James Bond one day.’

‘Why would you want to do that?’

‘I mean… It’s James Bond. That’s almost every men’s dream.’ Henry takes a sip of his water, as he clearly is studying my face. ‘Why? Don’t you like James Bond?’

I shake my head. ‘My mom hated the movies with a passion when I was growing up. It’s kind of sexist, really. I feel like, if you should ever play a movie with something like that, you should look into a movie where they create a whole new legendary character. Just like Keanu Reeves is the start of a John Wick legacy, you could be the start of something else.’ I smile at him, before adding: ‘You deserve better than to portray James Bond, Henry.’

He plays with his food for a second, before he looks at me again. ‘You think so?’

I nod. ‘Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you.’

Henry smiles. ‘Well, I’ll consider it.’

After we finish our dinner, I take a shower and get dressed in my pajamas. Despite the fact that I only drove back to the cottage today from Switzerland, I am really tired. Before I would go to bed early, simply to avoid falling in sleep in front of him, but now we usually get in bed together. We talk about tons of stuff before we actually fall asleep, still with the wall of pillows between us.

My mind is nearly in Dreamland already. I turn on my side and wrap my leg and arm around the pillows, my fingertips accidentally caressing his soft skin. ‘You don’t mind me doing this?’ I groggily whisper, still remembering my dad’s words that I’m apparently doing that _thing_.

‘I don’t,’ Henry says. ‘I think it’s sweet.’

I open my eyes for a brief second and I see him already looking at me, a smile toying on his face.

‘Go to sleep, Addy. Tomorrow you and I go swimming in the morning, remember?’

‘Oh right,’ I yawn, closing my eyes again. Somehow my hand finds his and I hesitate for a second. Should I pull my hand back or just leave it here? Thankfully I don’t have to think about that, because Henry wraps his fingers through mine and whispers: ‘Good night, Adelaide.’

‘Good night,’ I mumble, slowly drifting off to sleep.

◎◎◎

The next morning, I’m back in the insanely cold pool again with Henry. We’ve done this two times before now, but I still don’t trust myself enough to do _something_ alone in the water. Even if it’s just holding the edge, as I’m sort of swimming by myself, Henry close by. I know that even if I do that, he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

‘No, no, no,’ I quickly say, when he suggests that same idea, for the second time this morning. ‘Don’t let go of me, please.’

‘Addy, have I ever let go of you, when you didn’t want me to?’ he asks me. He decides to answer his own question. ‘No, I have never done that, so I’m not going to do that now. I’m just going to remove one hand from your waist to hold your hand, okay?’

‘No,’ I whine.

Henry starts to chuckle. ‘What’s up with you today?’ he asks. ‘You’re shaking. Is the water that cold or are you scared?’

‘I’m scared,’ I admit. ‘I know that I have to do it myself one day and at least try a bit alone, but not today. Please.’

‘Okay, not today,’ he assures me. ‘You seem a bit tense. Is everything okay?’

I sigh. ‘I just got a text from my dad this morning,’ I whisper, but loud enough for him to hear it, maybe not loud enough for the “hidden” camera’s that are stationed in the garden to pick up. ‘It’s just that my mom has a cold and that always worries me.’

‘Why?’ he asks, as he stops walking in the water.

I don’t want to tell him, but I know that I eventually will. My arms are wrapped around his shoulders, while his fingers are circling on my skin. It’s such a small, yet caring gesture from his side. ‘My mom is paralyzed from the waist down,’ I tell him. ‘But… She… After she got paralyzed, she never got back to her old health, if that makes sense. She is very prone to colds and a simply cold can turn into a nasty flu and that can result into her needing to go to the hospital. She ended up in the emergency room a few times and each time I wasn’t home. My dad always tells me not to worry about her, just like my mom tells me not to worry, but it’s hard. I worry a lot about them all the time, especially when she’s sick.’

Henry doesn’t say anything, he simply studies my face. ‘I had no idea,’ he tells me. ‘Come here.’ He pulls me towards his body and I nuzzle my face in his neck. ‘I’m so sorry, Addy. I understand you worry a lot about them, but… I just have to ask: why don’t you tone it down with the movies, so you can be with them?’

I pull back and say: ‘Because… I want to provide for them.’

‘Why?’ His blue eyes almost look innocent. I have to hold myself in, not to brush the wet curls out of his face, not to press my nose against his cheek, to kiss his jaw, feeling the short hairs puncture my lips. I can’t stop myself falling in love with him. He is everything that I was apparently looking for in a man. He is kind, he is patient and he is caring. He knows how to cook, he can read me like the back of his hand and yesterday, the way he held my hand when I went to sleep, is making me feel all sorts of things.

But there is one thing that I know: if he ever becomes a bigger part of my life, he should know more about me. I have been dodging it for too long now, but I should tell him. And even if we don’t become an item, I know that we will end up as friends. I know that after the Celebrity Project ends, I don’t ever want him out of my life again.

‘When I grew up, we were very poor,’ I say. ‘Like, my dad had to work long hours in a factory, my mom became a live in nanny and I had to raise myself. My dad barely ate after a long day of work, so mom and I could have most of it, when my mom would be home to eat it. I went to one of the only schools that was close by and was free. It wasn’t a great school, I don’t even think my teachers remember me at all. We couldn’t afford testing for me, something that my parents didn’t even know about, because they couldn’t miss a day at their jobs and I did my own parent teacher meetings.’

‘Geez, Adelaide,’ he says. ‘I’m so sorry.’

I clear my throat, because I don’t want to cry. ‘When I was nineteen, I was working at a diner, to help meet ends back at home, since I couldn’t go to college, my mom was hit by a car and left paralyzed. The medical bills were out of the roof and she needed physical therapy, but we couldn’t afford it. And that’s the whole reason I started acting in ‘Remembering High School’. I had zero acting experience, but I needed the money. After I made that money and my year on the show was up, I got offered two different movies. A romantic comedy or a thriller, but from the looks of it, the romantic comedy would definitely make more. Thankfully I chose that movie, because the thriller was a big flop. Every penny I earned from that movie and a few after that, went to my parents, for their bills.’

Henry nods and removes his hand from my waist, so he can wipe the tears of my cheeks. Not that it helps, since his hand is still wet from the water. ‘You are amazing,’ he says. ‘I think you are by far the most amazing woman on this earth. Do you still do that? Give your money to your parents?’

I nod. ‘I don’t really know what I should do with it and my parents worked so hard for me. This is my way of thanking them.’

Henry pulls me closer to him, his arms around my body and I let out a tiny sob that I was holding in, when I bury my face in his strong shoulder. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispers. ‘If you want to go home, you just go home, okay? I totally understand. Your family is more important than this show.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.’

‘No, no, no, don’t say something like that. I understand. It’s very personal and this isn’t something that you just tell people. You are amazing, Addy, please remember that, okay?’

I nod, before slowly pulling back, so I can look at him again. Henry is smiling. ‘What?’ I ask.

‘You just keep on surprising,’ he says. ‘And in these days that I’m spending time with you, I’ve gotten to know you in a way that I never thought would be possible. Angela spoke so highly of you, though she barely knew you. Now I know you quite well and I can’t speak anything but highly of you.’

I let out a nervous chuckle. ‘You don’t have to.’

‘But I will anyways,’ he smiles. ‘Let’s get out of the pool now, you are freezing.’ We go to the edge and when I climbed out, I grab my towel and wrap it around me. Henry’s perfectly shaped body, with the right hip-shoulder ratio… I can’t help but look.

‘Henry,’ I say, causing him to look up. ‘Thank you.’

He chuckles. ‘Not a single problem, Adelaide.’

◎◎◎

 **Dad:** No need to worry. Eomma will make it, it’s a tiny flu.

 **Adelaide:** Sure?

 **Dad:** More than sure. Enjoy your time.

 **Dad:** I love you 😘

 **Adelaide:** I love you too 😘

I keep thinking about my dad’s texts. I mean, he tells me that it will be alright and I should believe him. Back in the day, he was always right and that shouldn’t change now.

After our little swimming adventure, Henry and I got ready for the day and now we’re standing in front of a haunted house, waiting for the host of today to get ready. What exactly the challenge is for today, I don’t know, but I’m not looking forward to it at all.

The rest on the other hand seem to be totally fine. Henry places both of his hands on my shoulders and I look back, placing the top of my head against his chest. Even upside down, he is beautiful looking. I bet I look like a moron. ‘Are you okay?’ he quietly asks.

‘I’m fine.’ Thankfully over the course of the years, I have become a better liar, which I think is a skill thanks to my acting career. I have always been a master at hiding my emotions, but when people get closer to me (just my parents, but nowadays Henry too), it’s harder, because they see right through me.

And right now, I’m not fine. My mom is sick and I don’t know how she is doing as we speak. We have to go through the haunted house and I’m afraid that they are going to make us go individually. I really want to go with Henry, because then I can just hop on his back, bury my face in his neck and not look.

However, this show is the stupidest thing I’ve ever participated in, because we have to go through the haunted house all by ourselves, while even doing some _challenges_ while we’re inside.

My heart is racing and I can’t even look at the big screen outside of the house, without jumping. Henry is still standing behind me, with his hands still on my shoulders, his thumbs pressing into the tight muscles to make them less tense. ‘Relax,’ he whispers, when someone else is going inside. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

But I can’t believe him. I’m not going to be fine. Justin screams his lungs out when someone pops up in front of him, as he is trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. Jennifer is hiding in a corner, while she is singing one of her own songs. And when it’s Henry’s turn, he has to solve a sudoku, but he jumps at every little sound and that is really not easing my mind. If a man like him, who nearly tripped over his own feet because I moved the fried tarantula in his face, screams like this when he hears water drip on the floor, how the hell am I supposed to do this?

After watching everyone else go, it’s time for me. I feel like my petite frame reminds them of a kindergartner, because they all wish me extra good luck. Jennifer even pulls me into a motherly hug and whispers that I’ve got this.

But do I have it in me to finish this?

I push open the door and I step into the house of horrors. I could eat the most disgusting looking snacks and people called me a daredevil. I can manage this. This isn’t that terrifying. It’s just fake, it’s like acting.

Only this set looks scary as hell and there is no one out here to say cut.

The lights start to flicker, something they didn’t do before. How am I supposed to read and answer eventual questions if I have to do that? I take a step forward, but my heart is pounding so loud, that my eardrums hurt.

The steps are minuscule, but at least I’m taking steps forward. Every door, every corner, every closed window… It makes me hesitant, but so far, nothing has happened. Maybe the actors that work here feel sorry for me.

I could crawl over the floor, I think to myself. Maybe that would be—

Something falls down from the ceiling and bounces on the floor. I jump backwards, letting out a scream that is more a high whistle note. When I finally can open my eyes again, I notice it’s a head and just a head. ‘It’s fake,’ I tell myself out loud. ‘It’s fake.

But then the head starts to scream, causing me to scream and a tiny sob escapes my lips. No, no, no, this can’t be happening.

I quickly jump over it and hurry myself through the rest of the hall.

Because I’m simply just walking and not paying attention, I bump into a wall and I go left, but someone with a fucking _knife_ comes out of the door and I stumble backwards. Thankfully this person keeps standing in the doorframe and I crawl past them, but he or she keeps standing in the doorway, not attacking me. ‘Thank you,’ I squeak, my throat tightening, almost like someone is physically choking me.

Okay, I managed this and I see a clipboard with some questions on a table. I press my back against the wall, so I can see everyone.

 _What is the capital of Russia?_ Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, I think to myself. If these are the questions, I’m out of here within a minute.

I hear footsteps and the light that was flickering two seconds ago, is completely out. It’s dark. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

I can’t see anything, but I hear screams and dark voices. I try to catch my breath, when the light come back on and I’m surrounded by a bloody nurse, a creepy clown and oh my, is that not one, but three zombies? They are really close to me and I can’t help up but scream bloody murder, as I hide my face behind the clipboard. ‘No, go away, go away!’

_Is that a fucking chainsaw?_

I open my eyes for a second, only to see that someone who looks like Chucky is really close now with a chainsaw. This doesn’t seem fake anymore. This seems way too real and my brain is going crazy. What is happening? Am I dying?

I start to cough, as the tears run over my cheeks. ‘No, stop, please!’

I hear something, but the pounding of my heart is too hard for me to hear what is happening. All I can do is cry, shake and cough as the tears nearly make me choke.

‘Addy, I’m here,’ I hear a voice say, but I keep hiding my face in my face, kicking my feet and I hit something. ‘Ouch, no, no, it’s me, Henry. Don’t worry, it’s all over.’

I peek through my fingers, to see the lights are on and all the scary people that cornered me, are gone. The only one I see now, is Henry. My cheeks are flushed and my eyes hurt from crying. I try to say something, but my breathing is all over the place.

Henry holds my hands and places one on my own chest and the other on his. ‘Try to breath with me, Adelaide,’ he says to me. ‘Now breath in deeply.’ He takes a deep breath, holds it for a second, before slowly breathing out. I try to copy him, but my breathing is too erratic. It takes at least ten times before I’m finally sort of managing. ‘Very good,’ he says in a soft tone. ‘Very good.’

‘Is it over?’ I whimper.

Henry nods, holding my hand tightly in his. ‘It’s all over. I’m so sorry that this happened to you and I’m sorry I didn’t come in here way sooner. I should’ve noticed that this was too much.’

‘Did we lose?’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he says sternly. ‘You shouldn’t worry about that.’ Henry stands up and pulls me with him, but my legs feel like jello and simply give out, because of all the adrenaline that is breaking down. I cling onto his shirt, as he holds me up by my waist.

‘I can’t anymore,’ I cry, as I bury my face into his shirt, not caring about wiping my tears on the fabric. ‘I’m so scared.’

‘I know,’ he sighs. ‘Fuck, I know.’ He hoists me up in his arms, guiding me into wrapping my legs around his waist. ‘Don’t look,’ he tells me.

I don’t even want to look at this awful, awful place anymore, so I bury my face into his neck, as he walks out of the haunted house. He places me on the soft grass and he runs his fingers through my disheveled hair. ‘Addy, listen to me,’ he says, ‘you’re breathing is good, but you need to make sure that it stays like this okay?’

I simply nod. ‘I’m just so embarrassed.’

‘There is absolutely no need to be embarrassed,’ he tells me. ‘You can stop with this program if you want. I mean, I totally understand that you want to quit.’

‘I think I just want tomorrow off,’ I whisper. ‘And do nothing.’

‘I understand,’ he says. ‘You want to go home?’

 _Home_. ‘As long as you are there.’

Henry smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. ‘I’m not leaving you, Addy. Not after this.’

◎◎◎

When Henry and I are _home_ , I feel disgusting. I could actually use a shower, but I’m too afraid of standing in the shower cabin by myself and I don’t want to shower with Henry (our friendship is too fragile for that), so a simple washing cloth should do the trick.

The producers of the Celebrity Project gave me the next day off and depending on how I feel after tomorrow, I will decide whether or not I’m staying here. I don’t want to give up and I think I can overcome this.

Henry sits next to me on the couch, as we both stare at the television. We have been watching Mamma Mia, simply because of the ABBA songs and the story line is predictable and predictability is exactly what I need right now. ‘You want something to drink?’ he asks me, when the credits are rolling on the screen.

I shake my head. ‘No, thank you.’

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I don’t know,’ I whisper.

‘Do you want to go to bed?’ he suggests. ‘We could do that. I bet you are tired.’

I am tired and the fact that he said that _we_ could do that, must indicate that he is going to stay with me, right? I simply nod and he says he is going to close off. To be alone is not what I want right now, so I follow him around the cottage like a puppy.

When we’re in bed, I ask him if he wants to leave the light on his nightstand on. I still sit up straight in bed, my arms wrapped around my knees. Henry places a hand on my back.

‘I’m scared,’ I whisper, as I feel my heart pounding painfully in my chest.

He sighs deeply. ‘I know. Is there anything I can do for you?’

I turn my head to the side, so I can look at him. ‘Can… Can you… Can you hold me, please?’ Tears burn in my eyes. ‘I’m so scared, Henry.’

He throws the pillows from the bed, before I crawl into his inviting arms. I place my head on his chest, my arm wrapped around his waist. ‘Breath, Addy,’ he whispers. ‘It’s all okay now, I’m right here with you. Nothing can happen to you now.’

However, the tears come again and they aren’t stopping. His large hand cups my cheek, his thumb caressing the skin right underneath my eye. He lets me cry, even though I have been crying a lot for the past few hours.

I force myself to stop, because I’m out of breath and I’m just too tired to cry anymore. Henry pulls me closer to his broad and heavy frame.

‘There, there,’ he says in a soft tone. ‘You are all okay now.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I whisper.

‘No need to be sorry, Addy. You just try and go to sleep, because you are really tired and after this day… You should just sleep, okay?’

During the night, I wake up a few times, but every single time I’m closely tugged into Henry’s protective arms. Sometimes he is behind me, his face buried in my neck or my hair, our hands linked. Sometimes I have my head on his shoulder and then my face is nuzzled in his neck. But every time I wake up, he is still awake. ‘Go back to sleep,’ he whispers, his fingers drawing soothing circles on my skin.

And as if his voice is working like hypnosis, I drift off right back to sleep.

◎◎◎

The next day, Henry has been nothing but a sweetheart to me and halfway through the day, I feel a whole lot better and decide to stay here and finish the competition. I don’t care that we are last and that we are probably going to lose anyways.

The two of us decide to take a walk through a large orchard, with trees filled with apples and oranges. We end up on a lovely field and I plop down in the grass. The sun is burning on my skin, but I chose a spot near a tree, so we can alternate between sitting in the sun and the shadows.

Henry and I lean against the tree when the sun is too hot for us to sit in, as we stare ahead of us. ‘You know,’ he says, ‘I was wondering something.’

‘Tell me.’

‘You kept your personal life very private over the course of the years. Why was that?’

‘I thought it wasn’t anyones business.’ I look to the side and chuckle. ‘That’s the _I try to be really tough_ -answer, but the truth is: I was embarrassed. No one at school knew about my situation at home and I certainly didn’t want the entire world to know.’

‘You didn’t have any friends?’

I shake my head. ‘Yet again: I was too embarrassed to share this with anyone. Besides, I was the weird girl who wore the same clothes for three days on end.’

‘Kids can be cruel,’ he says, referring to his own past.

I wrap my arms around his strong one, pressing my cheek against his bicep. ‘They can.’

‘Can I ask something else?’

‘You can.’

‘Have you ever dated?’

I place my chin on his arm, so I can actually look at him again. ‘No, I have never.’

‘You have played alongside quite a few single guys. Was there not a spark in real life?’

‘Goodness gracious, Henry, you sound like you’re in a retirement home. _A spark in real life_? Really?’

He chuckles. ‘You get what I’m saying.’

‘I do,’ I say with a smile. ‘But to answer your question, no, there wasn’t. I mean, I remain in contact with some of them and we’re still friendly, but I never let them in. Not like how I’m with you.’ I place my cheek against his bicep again, but one of my hands slides down his arm. He intertwines his fingers with mine and his thumb draws soft figures on my skin.

Henry nods. ‘You know,’ he says, ‘you are really one of a kind.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you do something that no one else does. You haven’t mentioned my appearance once since we are here.’

‘Really?’ I ask frowning. ‘I thought about your appearance quite a few times.’

He smiles. ‘But you never voiced it. You know, it’s flattering that people comment about my appearance, but you don’t do that. You comment about my personality traits and I don’t want to become all sappy, but… It means a lot.’

‘You are sappy,’ I mumble, causing him to laugh. ‘But since we are being sappy with one another, I should tell you that… You are one of a kind too. You give me a chance. I remember one of the first times I was having issues with speaking and you didn’t fill in the rest. You just waited till I could finish my sentence. That means… a lot. Also, Henry, you… You ran into the haunted house for me.’

‘How…’

‘I saw the footage,’ I say with a smile, remembering what I saw this morning.

He was standing outside, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a deep frown between his brows. ‘Can you just leave the lights on?’ he asked. ‘Flickering lights make it harder for Adelaide to concentrate.’

But there was no response. He shook his head, clenched his jaw and eventually he simply walked away. He went in the haunted house, pressed the “Stop” button, before rushing towards me, pulling some of the actors away. ‘It’s over,’ he told them. ‘Get the fuck out of here.’

After seeing the footage, it made my heart swell like crazy. ‘Quite romantic, really,’ I chuckle.

He laughs, but it sounds more nervous this time. ‘Well… It was nothing.’

‘It meant the world to me,’ I retort. _And because of that, I think I’m even more in love with you than I already was._ However it doesn’t leave my lips. I don’t want to scare him off.

‘This never happened to me before,’ Henry says. ‘Feeling about someone like this.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like how I feel about you.’ He squeezes my hand, before continuing by saying: ‘I care so much about you, Adelaide. Before you told me about your life, after you told me about your life. Even if we don’t win this contest, I did win something else. I won the privilege to get to know you.’

‘You care for me,’ I repeat, letting those words process for a bit. _But that’s not falling in love with me_.

‘And,’ he continues, ‘I’m slowly falling for you too.’

I resit, so I don’t strain my neck when I look at him. ‘What?’

He holds my hand tightly in his, as if he is afraid that I might slip away. ‘I’m falling in love with you, Adelaide Park.’

I bite my lip. ‘You are?’

‘I am,’ he confirms. ‘Even if we don’t win this show, I want to figure out how we can manage after this. Maybe you can even tone it down with your movies.’

I chuckle, hiding my face in my hand. ‘Maybe I can do that.’ I look at our linked hands and I whisper: ‘I’m falling love with you too, Henry Cavill.’

‘You are?’ he asks with a smile. ‘Lucky me.’

We don’t say anything. I just look into his eyes, trying to figure out what he is thinking. I can see him staring at my lips, before he moistens his own. ‘When I kiss you,’ he says, ‘there is one problem. I fear that I can’t stop then, but I also want us to remain a little secret. For time being of course.’

I nod. ‘Then you don’t kiss me.’

‘But I want to,’ he chuckles.

‘You have to pick one of the options.’

‘What do you want?’

‘I mean…’ I purse my lips together. ‘I wouldn’t mind if we kissed.’

Henry pulls me closer by my hand. I lose a bit of my balance, so I fall against his chest. ‘Careful now, Addy,’ he chuckles. ‘We don’t want any injuries, now do we?’

‘Shut up.’ I finally place my hand on his cheek and as my thumb is slowly caressing his soft skin, I accidentally graze over his velvety lips. He turns his head, to kiss the palm of my hand.

‘Can I kiss you?’ he asks against my skin, as he places his hand on mine, so he can press another, but more firm kiss on the inside of my hand. ‘You can say no.’

‘I want to kiss you,’ I hoarsely whisper. ‘Badly so.’

‘Badly so,’ he repeats with a self fulfilled grin on his face. He leans in closer to me and teasingly kisses my cheek, the tip of my nose and even my forehead. ‘Where?’ he whispers. ‘Where do you want me to kiss you?’

‘Right here,’ I whisper, before pressing my lips on his. They fit perfectly on each other. I cradle his face in my hands, as he pulls me closer to his body, though my legs are in the way. Without even thinking about it, I sit on his lap, causing him to smile underneath the kiss.

‘Badly so it was,’ he mumbles against my lips, his hands slipping underneath my shirt. He opens his mouth and carefully his tongue invades my mouth. I whimper, as his fingers dig into my back, his thumbs softly circling my stomach.

How many on screen kisses have I done?

Billions.

How many felt like this?

None.

I pull back, so I can catch my breath, but he is not giving me a break. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, pressing wet kisses on my delicate skin. ‘Can we stay here forever?’ he asks against my collarbone. ‘I don’t want to go back to the camera’s.’

‘Me neither,’ I whisper. I place my pointer finger underneath his chin, lifting his face. ‘How are we going to do this back at the cottage?’

‘Well,’ he chuckles, ‘we are already behaving like a cute couple, so we don’t have to change a lot about that. Just have to hold back the kisses.’

My fingers run through his curls, messing them up a little, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Henry simply smiles at me. ‘I think we can manage that,’ I say, smiling back at him.

‘Can I have another kiss?’ he asks.

‘You can,’ I whisper, before he captures my lips again. This kiss is even more intense and my fingers toy with the buttons of his shirt, when we hear someone clear their throat. We look up, to see a little boy staring at us, while his grandmother is screaming something in the back. ‘Maybe we should find another place,’ I suggest, stepping off his lap.

‘Yeah,’ Henry says, ‘maybe we should.’

◎◎◎

 **Adelaide:** You were right.

 **Adelaide:** I like Henry a lot

 **Dad** : I’m always right

 **Adelaide:** And I kissed him.

 **Dad:** You didn’t?

 **Adelaide:** I did, but please keep this a secret.

 **Dad:** I can tell your eomma right?

 **Adelaide:** Yes you can

 **Adelaide:** I love you 😘

 **Dad:** I love you too, future mrs. Cavill

 **Adelaide:** Please, don’t.

◎◎◎

  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Henry really needs to think this through.

He meant every single word that he said yesterday to Adelaide, he truly does. He is falling in love with her and he is falling way too hard, he is aware of that. He doesn’t even care about the stupid part of the show anymore, he just wants to get to know her and be around her. Right now and even after the show, with her is where he wants to be.

However, he also meant the other thing he said to her: she can go home if she feels like that’s for the best. However, deep down he doesn’t want her to go. Not yet at least.

That entire afternoon they had spend kissing, like they were two teenagers afraid of getting caught. By the time they had to go home, it was hard for him to focus and bounce back to their routine they had before their first kiss.

Should or shouldn’t he wrap his arm around her shoulders, push that strand of hair out of her face or use his thumb to wipe away the bits of food of her cheek?

During the night however, those doubts disappeared like snow in the sun. The whole worldwould see how they slept after the haunted house incident, why stop now? While Adelaide was asleep, he would just stare at her, without her looking away as she would turn into a blushing mess.

He never expected her to be like the pro she is, but then he realizes: while she has never been in a relationship before, this woman is the queen of romantic comedies and the one that she starred in, all portrayed healthy relationships, compared to other movies. She knows what she deserves and while that is more than he can offer, he can always try.

Adelaide Park stole his heart and from the looks of it, she has no intentions on ever giving it back.

Not that he minds at all.

Over the course of the next few days, they do some challenges and somehow they manage to do pretty okay. For the YouTube page of the Celebrity Project, they even did a segment on how to cook some Korean dishes and the comments underneath were all about one thing.

Their chemistry.

He admits, there is a lot of chemistry between them and it may or may not have been multiplied ever since their kiss. During the cooking segment, he kept messing up, causing Adelaide to simply shake her head, before wrapping her fingers around his arm, placing the side of her head on his bicep. She would softy reassure him, something that not only warmed his heart, but also the hearts of the fans.

While they are second place now (the Biebers are behind them and Charlie and Jennifer are way ahead of them), they are the fan favorites and Adelaide continues to impress everyone watching.

Tomorrow they are going on a camping trip, as part of their final challenge. After that, it’ll all be over. No more camera’s, no more stupid challenges (meaning never eating fried tarantulas anymore) and it’s only him and her together, getting to know one another on an even deeper level. He even thought about maybe auditioning for her upcoming romantic comedy. Playing alongside her, that’s all he wants.

It is hard for Henry, not to kiss her every time he gets the chance. He looks at her as she is making breakfast for them, but the ringing of his phone disturbs their little moment. He sees it’s his agent Richard and he places his hand on the small of her back. ‘You need me for something?’ he asks her.

She looks up and shakes her head. ‘No, please, take it,’ she says. ‘I can manage.’ He earns himself a beautiful smile from Adelaide.

After he excused himself, he walks outside, away from the camera’s. ‘Yes, what do you want?’

‘You are not responding to my texts,’ Richard informs him of the obvious.

He sighs. ‘I have been busy.’

‘With Adelaide.’ He tries to formulate as a question, but his agent fails miserably.

‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Henry asks him annoyed. He really hasn’t got time for this, especially not when he can make breakfast with Adelaide, as part of their morning routine. He loves these little moments and their cottage has become such an important spot for them.

‘You’re losing, Henry. You know what that means, right?’ The asshole answers his own rhetorical question. ‘You’re not getting James Bond.’

 _He doesn’t care about James Bond anymore_. He doesn’t even want to portray James Bond anymore. But he doesn’t want to come across as a simp. ‘We’re not too far behind,’ he says. ‘I’ll get her to man up, so we can win this.’ Like a dagger goes straight through his heart as he says that. He doesn’t want Adelaide to man up. He wants her to stay exactly the way she is.

‘Are you sure?’ Richard asks and he can even hear the cockiness and arrogance in his agent’s voice. The second Henry gets back, he is going to switch from agency. He hates Richard. ‘Because from the looks of it, she is continuing dragging you down.’

 _That is not the fucking case_. ‘We’ll manage,’ Henry hisses through clenched jaws.

‘And I never knew you were such a good actor. I almost believe you actually care about her.’

‘Maybe after this I’ll get even more jobs.’ Henry doesn’t mean it and even saying it out loud, pains him, however, it left his lips before he could even think about it and that’s what worries him. Does he mean it deep down?

He looks over his shoulder, to see Adelaide placing everything on the table outside. He can’t possibly mean it, right? ‘I’ve got to go.’ Without waiting for Richard to answer, he hangs up and marches up to the table.

This idiot is making him furious from the inside, completely ruining his excellent mood. The only thing he wants is to spend his day with Adelaide, without distractions.

While he was fuming of anger a few seconds ago, all his annoyance disappears as he approaches her. ‘Just in time,’ she says with a genuine smile, that makes him regret all the things he said to Richard.

Normally he would sit across from her, but today he sits right next to her, as they watch over the garden. Birds fly from tree to tree, the clouds are slowly dissolving in the sky and a stray cat wanders around their yard. ‘What’s the plan for today?’ Henry asks, as he grabs a cracker from the plate.

‘I think we have… pre… per… pre-pa-ra-tion time for the the final challenge tomorrow.’ She looks a bit annoyed, for her tumbling over her words. ‘Fuck,’ she hisses under her breath.

‘Addy,’ he says in a soft voice, causing her to look up. ‘It’s okay, remember that. You are with me.’ He can’t help but push a strand of hair out of her face and as he is doing that, he knows this is what fans comment about, if this shot makes it into the episode. He doesn’t even care at this point. He actually quite enjoys the fact that they are the fan favorites now.

‘Sorry,’ she whispers, clearly a bit distraught from stumbling like that. She was doing great these past few days.

He decides not to continue this conversation, because he knows that it annoys her and makes her feel insecure. Especially on a beautiful day like this, he shouldn’t bring up something like that. ‘We could go into town, buy some things.’

She nods. ‘Of course. Sounds like fun.’

‘And maybe you and I could go for a swim later this evening.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it’s fun,’ he chuckles. ‘Maybe you can finally swim by yourself. Just a little bit. You’ve been doing so good these last few days.’

Adelaide simply smiles at him, before taking a bite of her cracker. ‘Maybe.’ She lets out a sigh, placing her head against his bicep. Despite them wanting to keep whatever they have a bit of a secret, he loves this moment and doesn’t care about the camera’s picking this up. He doesn’t care about eventual comments from the fans. The only thing he cares about is that she feels safe enough to let her guard down around him and be vulnerable like this. 

He places his hand on her leg. ‘I saw there is a little cafe, maybe we can have something to drink there.’

She nods. ‘Of course.’

They finish up their breakfast and she quickly tells him that she is going to put on some make-up and get dressed. He doesn’t think that she needs that, but he simply stares after her. When she’s out of his sight, he lets out a deep, slightly frustrated sigh that he had been holding in for a while now.

Richard is really annoying the shit out of him. He means, of course he wasn’t too excited about working with Adelaide in the first place, but that was before he got to know her. That was before she looked at him with those eyes of her, that hid so much, but on the other hand told him a lot. That was before he felt her body against his. That was before she sat on his lap and kissed him.

That afternoon, he was falling for her a little more with every kiss that they shared. It just clicked, it matched perfectly. Her petite frame fits right in his arms, like they were made for one another. He loves feeling her soft skin underneath his fingers.

‘Ready?’ Adelaide asks, when she walks back in. She is wearing a blush pink dress, that is pretty tight fitting. He bites his lip as he tries not to gawk at her, however he barely manages and simply nods. She grabs her purse and he holds out his hand. ‘What is it?’ she asks him, her voice as sweet as honey.

‘Give me your purse,’ he says with a smile. ‘Come on.’

Adelaide rolls her eyes and reluctantly hands him her purse. ‘Looks good on you,’ she chuckles. When they closed the door behind them, they decide not to take the car, but to walk instead. He holds out his arm for her to take. Her hand rests on his under arm, her finger nails grazing over his skin.

Henry can see them walking around like this in the future, her as his girlfriend and he wouldn’t be complaining about that at all.

◎ ◎ ◎

They have bought a few items, like some extra clothing and a first aid kit (that was something that Adelaide thought of), and now they are in a pretty fancy store, because Henry saw something in the window, that he really wants Adelaide to try on. He grabs the dress from the rack and a pair of heels that would match. ‘Try this on,’ Henry tells her.

She frowns, crossing her arms in front of her chest. ‘Why?’

‘Just to humor me. Pretty please.’

Adelaide simply rolls her eyes, before he spots a tiny smile on her face. She walks over to the changing room, as he follows her to shut the curtain. He watches as the camera’s start to spread over the store, capturing every moment. He hears her hum softly as she gets changed, forcing a smile on his face.

She is too adorable.

‘You done?’ Henry asks.

‘Almost,’ she says. ‘But you can open the curtain. Maybe you can even help me zip up.’

He would love that. With the upmost discretion, he opens the curtain, making sure the camera’s can’t pick up on them. ‘Give me kiss,’ he mouths, so the mic’s don’t pick up.

‘Why?’ she soundlessly whispers back,

‘Just do it,’ he says without making noise.

She steps into the heels, before leaning in to give him a soft kiss. Her plump and soft lips against his, nearly makes him hum in content. He wishes this moment could last forever, but it’s Adelaide that pulls him back into the real world. ‘Zip me up,’ she tells him, as she turns around.

He zips her up, glancing at her body and with a certain elegance and grace, Adelaide steps out of the changing room, twirling in front of the mirror. Henry has seen a few of her red carpet looks and he has to admit: she absolutely knows how to work the camera, with that an innocent look, but also a certain confidence.

‘You look beautiful,’ he says and quickly closes his mouth, because there is so much he wants to say to her. This tight black dress, shows off all her features that she should flaunt a lot more. The deep neckline, her exposed back and the way it hugs all her curves…

‘You like it?’ Adelaide asks him, looking at him through the mirror.

‘I don’t just like it, I love it, Addy,’ he admits, leaning with his shoulder against the wall.

‘Why did you want me to wear this, mister Cavill?’ she asks him, walking up to him, stopping right in front of him, with her hands resting on her hips.

‘Just because,’ he mumbles.

Adelaide scoffs. ‘That’s not a good enough reasoning for me.’

He wonders what it would be like to have an honest to God relationship with the lovely Adelaide Park. She teases him a lot, she uses him as a personal pillow and seems to enjoy his presence. Henry would love to do this a lot more often: take her out shopping. It doesn’t have to be extravagant like this, even a domestic run through the grocery store would suffice. Besides, just being around her would be all he needs.

Shit, he is really falling for her hard and fast.

Adelaide’s hand grazes over his chest and he places his on hers, engulfing her hand underneath his. ‘I just figured it would look beautiful on you and I was totally right.’

He can see it; she is lost in his eyes for a few seconds. She visibly shakes herself out of her thoughts, before simply rolling her eyes—a defense mechanism, pretending that she doesn’t care about his words, while actually she does. It’s adorable, really—and stepping back into the changing room. ‘Addy, give me the heels and dress.’

‘Why?’ he hears her ask from behind the curtain.

‘Because I’m going to buy them for you.’

‘I thought you were my partner, not my sugar daddy.’ She pulls the curtain aside and she is wearing her own dress again, while she is slipping on her own shoes again. ‘You don’t have to.’

‘I do,’ he tells her. ‘Please, let me buy this for you. Admit it: it looks really good on you.’

She scrunches up her nose. ‘It does,’ she whispers.

‘Then you should have it.’

‘It’s really expensive,’ Adelaide retorts.

‘Doesn’t matter. I have not one, but two cards with me. I think I will be fine.’ He takes the black dress and the heels with him and walks over to the counter, to pay for them.

Henry insists on carrying all the bags for her and when they arrive at the cafe, she slides next to him on the bench, so they can look at the pedestrians walking by. She sits so close to him, that he is afraid that she can hear his raising heartbeat. No matter how comfortable they are with one another right now, she still makes him a bit nervous.

‘You look forward to camping with me?’ she asks.

‘I look forward to do anything with you,’ Henry chuckles, causing her to blush intensely. ‘You’ve ever been camping before?’

 _That is such a stupid question_ , he thinks to himself. Probably not, since she told him about her family situation. If people barely have money for food, they don’t go on camping trips. Henry, you stupid fool.

She simply shakes her head and from the looks of it, she’s not bothered by his question. ‘You?’

‘As a kid, yeah. But I mostly just followed my dad.’

‘More experience than me,’ Adelaide chuckles. She takes a sip of her cappuccino and says: ‘Just have to tell you, that I don’t really like night time.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s dark and outside,’ Adelaide tells him. ‘And I might be a little bit afraid in the dark, if you hadn’t noticed that already with the haunted house.’

Henry chuckles. ‘A little bit, but don’t you worry about a thing. I’m going to be right there with you. Besides,’ he says, ‘I don’t care about winning.’

‘Sure you do.’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I don’t and don’t fight me on that,’ he jokes, pinching her chubby cheek. ‘I just look forward to spend more time with you.’

◎ ◎ ◎

‘Henry, could you come in here?’

Adelaide’s voice is coming from the bathroom and he stops in front of the closed door. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asks, worry running through his veins.

‘There is a spider here and I want you to kill it.’

That’s actually quite the relief and it causes Henry to chuckle. He opens the door, only to discover that she is simply leaning against the wall. Adelaide places her finger on her lips and gestures to close the door. The door clicks shut behind him and she walks over to him. ‘What are you—’ He can’t finish his sentence, because she plants her lips on his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Henry melts against her body, placing his hands on her waist and chuckles. ‘Never knew you could be this sneaky, Addy.’ He lifts her on the counter and gives her another kiss. ‘I missed your lips.’

‘I missed yours too,’ she whispers. ‘I fear that this is because it’s all new and exciting, but I really can’t stop kissing you.’

He never expected her to be this bold, but he also feels like she has been holding back all along. The world is seeing one version of Adelaide Park, the one that she wants them to see, that she has gotten used to be. However, there is an even more complicated one hidden behind a large wall that she has build over the years. Slowly but surely, she lets her guard down every so often, to show him what she is like.

He can’t wait to see more of that.

‘I can’t stop either,’ he confesses, leaning in to kiss her again.

She tilts her head when he lets go of her, her thumbs slowly caressing his cheeks. ‘Henry,’ she whispers, ‘I’m worried for tomorrow.’

‘Why is that, Addy?’

She simply shrugs. ‘I’m just afraid that I’m going to let you down.’

Richards words flash through his mind for a single second, but he quickly shoves them aside. ‘Don’t be. I don’t care about winning anymore, especially because I won the greatest prize already.’ He buries his face in her nape, to press a delicate kiss on her skin. ‘We’ll see how it goes, okay? But remember, you and I are together every single minute. I’m not leaving you alone, because I know that is what you are worried about too.’

Adelaide nods, as she looks a bit caught. ‘Pinky promise?’

He holds out his pink, hooking it behind hers. ‘Pinky promise,’ he whispers, pressing a kiss on her fingers.

‘Now get out, I need to get ready for our swimming session.’ With a wide grin, she pushes him out of the bathroom and he can’t help but laugh. A blush is set on his cheeks and he grabs his own swimming trunks.

Henry sits on the bed, the smile still evident on his face. Shit, he is way too much into her. He waits as he hears Adelaide hum again, before she walks out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and a huge smile on her face.

After he changed into the blue shorts, he walks out of the cottage, towards the pool. Adelaide is already sitting on the edge, her back as straight as a ruler and he sits next to her. ‘Ready?’ Henry asks her.

She takes a deep breath. ‘I am.’

He gets in the cold water and places his hands in the dips of her waist. Henry enjoys these swimming moments they share together. Her body is always so close to his and the evening sun making her like an ethereal goddess. He knows that it’s hard for her to trust anyone, but he somehow managed to build something with her.

Like usual, she hisses as soon as she hits the water and wraps her arms tightly around his shoulders. Her legs snake around his hips and that is the first time that she does that. While he is not complaining, Henry continues to tell himself that his teen years are over and that this shouldn’t make him this excited.

Adelaide manages to actually sort of swim, but he keeps his hand on her stomach, making sure she keeps floating. ‘Don’t let go of me,’ she tells him.

‘I wouldn’t dare.’

The water hits her in her face, but she starts to laugh.

‘You’re almost there, Addy,’ Henry encourages her and she places her underarms on the edge.

A chuckle of disbelieve leaves her lips. ‘I did it, Henry!’ She wraps her arms around his shoulders.

He pulls her closer to his body. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ he tells her. She pulls back and from the looks of it, it seems like she doesn’t care about hiding anymore, not when his hands are placed on her back. Her hot breath makes his lips tingle. ‘Thank you.’

It takes him all of his willpower not to lean in and kiss her, because the temptation is nearly killing him. He kissed her a few times today, however it’s not enough. He can’t stop thinking about her, about kissing her non stop and getting to know her even more. Maybe it’s because it’s all new and exciting.

Adelaide starts to shiver a bit and he presses his forehead against her temple. ‘Let’s get out of the pool. It’s becoming colder.’

He gets out and grabs her towel, holding it out her for her, wrapping her up in her large towel. He doesn’t want to let her go, but he keeps thinking to himself that in a matter of a few days, she is all his and the camera’s are finally out.

Adelaide takes a quick hot shower and walks over to the bed all dressed in her pajamas. He quickly gets himself ready, before he steps in the bed with her. He shuts out the lights, wrapping his arm around her upper body, as he presses his chest against her back. ‘Sleep tight,’ he whispers, burying his face in the back of her neck.

‘Good night,’ she says, holding his hand tightly in hers.

It doesn’t take long before he feels her asleep. He doesn’t know how she does it, but she always falls asleep pretty quickly and he has spend enough nights next to her to hear the change of her breathing. She twists and turns in his arms, like she usually does. Adelaide turns around and wraps her arm and leg around him and her face in the crook of his neck. He simply holds her body closely to his, as he feels her lips against his skin.

Henry’s fingers run through her hair and carefully presses a kiss on top of her head. He doesn’t care about winning anymore.

The one thing he cares about, is Adelaide Park.


	7. Chapter 7

Our final challenge is going on a survival for three days. I feel like that is something we can actually do, though I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing is right. When the first night falls, I made a fire and even suggested to Henry that we could try and catch a fish tomorrow. ‘You know how to fish?’ he asked me.

Little did he know that I have tons of tricks up my sleeve. ‘Of course,’ I told him, though I think he didn’t believe me and I can’t really blame him for that.

Weirdly enough, we fell into our trusted routines again right away. It made me realize that it doesn’t matter where we are, we can work together just fine wherever we are and we are able to make every place a home.

While he sets up the tent, I warm up in front of the fire, watching him from a distance. During the night, I curl up beside him, my limbs as cold as ice. Before I really fell asleep, I would push up his shirt and place my hand on his bare stomach, my fingers toying with the little hairs. I normally wouldn’t do this, would not be this bold and forward, but with Henry, it all feels so familiar, so safe. Like I can actually do this without being judged.

The first morning we spend together, I made us breakfast, while he folded the tent back into the small bag. It’s nice being with him out in the open like this. Him being surrounded by nature, makes him look so handsome, so normal and approachable.

We run through the woods, we have to do ridiculous things again, that involves trusting one another, yet again eat disgusting things, but I don’t even think about winning that prize. Now, that was never my initial goal to win the prize, but I never thought that I would gain another close friend, someone who is definitely more than that. I like being around Henry, being able to hold his hand when I’m blindfolded. I trust him so much, here and back at our cottage and I know that even outside of the Celebrity Project, I’m going to trust him with my life.

It’s weird being around someone like him. Being around someone that brings out this side of me. Around my parents I’m myself, but I’m the self who I taught me to be. My parents didn’t need a smart ass on top of their worries. My parents needed someone responsible, that would help them out and just do what she is expected to do, though it’s not ideal.

Hiding my feelings became my normal and despite earning a ton of money and not having to worry about anything anymore in life, that normal never changed. I never opened up, I never was myself and I hid everything about myself.

But now I have met this amazing human being, told him about my true self and I know he is going to stay. It’s quite relieving though, not having to bottle up my emotions.

However, after all we were able to handle during this camping trip this far, Henry is now crouched down in front of me, as tears fill my eyes. ‘Does this hurt?’ he asks, after carefully removing my shoe and trying to move my foot, to see what movement is possible and what not.

It feels like he is stabbing a knife through my ankle. ‘Stop, that hurts,’ I whine. As the big fat idiot I am, I misstepped and with the way it swells, I feel like I bruised my ankle pretty bad, especially since it’s swelling already.

‘Stay here,’ Henry says, rummaging through his bag. He hands me a painkiller with a bottle of water, before pulling out a shirt. ‘I’ll be right back.’

‘Where are you going?’ I ask. ‘You promised me that you stay here with me.’

He smiles, before placing his hand on the side of my thigh. ‘I’m just going to the river, so I can improvise an icepack with this shirt, Addy. I’ll be right back.’ He can’t help but chuckle. ‘You can be a big baby, you know that?’

I pout. ‘I know, I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be, I actually think it’s quite adorable. I’ll be right back.’ His large hand squeezes my upper leg, before he stands up and walks to the little lake, to drench his shirt. I swallow down the painkiller and I pull up my better leg, before I place my head on my knee. I let out a sniffle.

He sits down with me again, carefully taking off my sock and placing the cold wet shirt on my ankle, causing me to shiver. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper again.

Henry simply shakes his head, placing a hand on my calf, soothing me a bit. ‘No need to, Addy. Please, don’t feel sorry.’

‘Then what should I do?’

‘Stop crying when there is absolutely no need to,’ he smiles, laying a hand on my cheek, wiping away my tears. ‘Sweet Addy, listen to me. I don’t care about winning. I only care about you and your wellbeing. And right now, I’m going to take care of your ankle and hopefully in twenty minutes you can smile again.’

He grabs the first aid kit out of his backpack and bandages my ankle. When it’s done, he helps me to put on my sock and shoe again. Henry pulls me up, but I can’t seem to distribute my body weight onto both of my feet.

‘Come here,’ Henry says, pulling me into a hug. I place my chin on his chest and smile. I feel so safe, how does he manages to make me feel like this? ‘You hop on my back,’ he says with a smile. ‘So we can continue.’

‘We’re adults,’ I say frowning.

‘I am fully aware of that,’ he chuckles, ‘but that doesn’t mean that you can’t hop on my back.’

I roll my eyes, but I jump on his back anyways. Wrapping my arms and legs around him, I lean with my head against his. He continues to walk, trying to find a spot where we can sleep for the night. I push my nose against his cheek, feeling his five ‘o clock shadow against my skin. ‘Thank you.’

‘You don’t have to thank me every single time I do something for you,’ he says. ‘I like doing things for you.’ He looks to the side and smiles. ‘I like you.’

‘I like you too, Henry Cavill.’

When we finally found a spot, he sets up the tent again, while I have a thicker branch, strapping a knife on it with some rope. I hop around the water, looking right into it. Henry walks over to me and asks: ‘You think that works?’

‘Of course I think that works,’ I say to him.

He sits on a rock, leaning his elbows on his knees, a smug grin on his face. ‘Sorry to break your bubble, Addy, but I don’t think it’s going to work.’

I bite my lip, as I stare into the water again, before sticking the brach and the knife right into it. I hold it up and turn around. ‘Henry, look, look!’ I exclaim.

‘That actually worked?’ he asks, totally flabbergasted.

‘Of course that worked.’ I cock an eyebrow, before I pout. ‘Why did you underestimate me?’

Henry starts to stammer. ‘I… No… I didn’t… Sorry… But… Why are you laughing?’

‘I understand,’ I chuckle. ‘When I was younger, my dad could actually catch a fish with his bare hands. I could never, but we also couldn’t afford a rod. So I did this instead.’

He stands up and holds out his hand. ‘Come on, let’s get dinner started. You know how to prepare a fish?’

‘I do,’ I say, as I limp back to the tent. Henry starts the fire, as I remove its organs and clean the fish with water. When I look up, I see he hasn’t done anything. ‘Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill, you are useless.’ I wipe my hands clean.

‘I am useless?’ he repeats.

‘Don’t act surprised. You haven’t even started the fire, you stupid idiot.’

‘You call me a stupid idiot?’ He walks over to me and why do I feel like that can’t mean any good? I crawl back a little, a mischievous smile on my face. ‘I can’t believe,’ he says, crouching down in front of me, ‘that you called me a stupid idiot.’

‘Henry, what are you doing?’ I ask, leaning back on my hands.

He licks his lips, before he leans over to grab my wrists, causing me to fall back. I let out a squeal, almost thinking that I’m going to fall flat on the back of my head. However, he is always faster and I should’ve known that he would take good care of me. He places his hand on the back of my head, softly guiding me into the grass.

‘Henry,’ I whisper, as he leans on his underarm right next to me, almost as a warning for him not to do something he is going to regret. There are camera’s everywhere.

He places his hand in my waist, after he nodded at me and starts to tickle me.

‘No, Henry,’ I scream, ‘stop it now.’

‘What did you call me?’ he chuckles. ‘I think you called me a stupid idiot. Not just stupid, not just an idiot, but a stupid idiot.’

I try to wiggle out of his grasp, but obviously I fail miserable. ‘You _are_ a stupid idiot,’ I say, tears running over my cheeks from laughing this hard. ‘Stop!’

‘Only if you take it back.’

I try to push his hand away, but yet again, I’m not strong enough. ‘Okay, okay, you are not an idiot.’

Henry halts his tickles, but he is still holding his hand where it was. ‘Then what am I?’ he cockily asks.

I smile, place my hand on his cheek and whisper: ‘You are amazing, Henry. I’m so lucky that you are my partner. I wouldn’t have wanted any other way.’

‘That’s quite romantic, miss Park,’ he chuckles. ‘But you smell like fish and I can’t focus on your lovely words anymore.’

‘Shut up.’ I push my hands in his face and after I use all of my body, he tumbles back, but pulls me with him. ‘You should be thankful that I know exactly how to prepare fish. Otherwise you would be starving.’

He places his hand on the small of my back and says: ‘Go wash your hands, so we can eat.’

◎◎◎

I have this nightmare a few times every year, where my mom doesn’t survive her car accident and there is nothing I can do to help her. I’m glued to the pavement, unable to catch my mom as she rolls over the car and drops to the ground. I gasp for air when I wake up the next morning, rubbing my eyes. I’m still underneath the sleeping bag, securely pressed against his warm body. I place my chin on his chest, looking at his beautiful face. He is still asleep and it’s actually one of the first and only times I see him sleeping. He is always awake when I wake up. I push my hand underneath his shirt, as I prop up on my elbow. My hand raises up from his happy trail to his chest, placing it on his heart.

The one thing that I like about this tent, is that there are no camera’s. No eyes that watch me. That watch us. I lean in to give him a kiss on his cheek, only for him to turn his face and kiss me right back.

‘You were awake?’

Henry nods. ‘I was, from the second you woke up. You okay, Addy? It seemed like you woke up a bit abrupt.’

‘Just a bit of a nightmare,’ I confess. ‘I have it from time to time. It’s no big deal.’

‘Are you sure?’ he asks.

‘I am.’

He pushes back a strand of hair, letting his thumb linger on my cheek. Henry smiles and I blush. ‘You’re so beautiful,’ he whispers.

‘I look like shit.’

‘Shut up,’ he says. ‘You are beautiful. I like your puffy face in the morning, I like it when you’re hair is all over the place. I like your morning breath.’ He pulls me closer to him and gives me a kiss. ‘Waking up to you is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.’

‘Shut up.’

He sits up straight and pulls me with him, even grabbing my leg to pull me on his lap. I shiver when the sleeping bag isn’t covering my shoulders anymore and he pulls it up to keep me warm. ‘You think the camera guys are still asleep?’ I ask him.

‘I think so,’ he says. ‘I can’t wait for this to be over. No camera’s, just you and me. Do you have to go to Switzerland right away?’

I shake my head. ‘I was planning on going to LA for a few months, while the movie preparations are getting finalized. Why?’

‘Just wondered if we could spend more time together.’

‘Of course,’ I quickly say, slipping my hands underneath his shirt again. ‘I would love to.’

Henry smiles, bumping his nose against mine.

‘But I was planning on visiting my parents,’ I say. ‘You could come with me if you want, but I get that you think it’s a bit too soon. You know, I don’t actually know about it.’

‘What are your hesitations?’

I sigh deeply. ‘It’s just that I’m a bit scared. My parents were my only friends growing up, the only ones I can count on. It’s not that I’m embarrassed of you, it’s that I’m not used to bringing people home with me. I don’t know if it’s too soon and maybe you think it’s too soon. I mean, I totally get if you’re not ready and—’

‘Okay, wait a minute,’ he says. ‘I’m ready, but only if you are. I would love to see where you grew up, who you grew up with and your relationship with your parents. I want to get to know you even better, at your pace.’

I shake my head, as a chuckle of disbelieve leaves my lips. ‘You are too good to be true, did you know that?’

‘I’m not,’ he whispers, placing a kiss on my lips. ‘What’s with the frown, Addy?’ he asks me, once he looks in my eyes again. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m good, I’m good,’ I say. ‘It’s just that I’m infatuated by you, Henry Cavill and it’s scaring me.’

He looks genuinely confused. ‘Why is it scaring you?’ His voice is so soft, so vulnerable.

‘I have never been in love before,’ I say. ‘Have you?’

He nods. ‘I have.’

‘What is that like?’

‘Scary,’ he admits, ‘because you do things that you never expected you would do. You opened up, I showed the entire world that I’m a big softie. And that can be scary, but what I always remember, is that it’s all worth it, because you and I are in this together and in it for the long run.’

‘How romantic,’ I chuckle. ‘It helps to know that you are scared as well.’ I lean in to give him a quick kiss, before I tell him that we should get ready.

The two of us get ready, but I can’t help but to look over my shoulder every now and then. When I first starred on Remembering High School, I had a crush on Jeff, the guy who played Tom, my love interest. However I never pursued any further. I was scared and back then I let fear stop me. Now I’m scared too, but I’m not letting it stop me.

At least I’m trying not to let it stop me. I shouldn’t be thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong, because it is not going to go wrong, right? I clench my jaw when I look at him again.

‘Everything okay?’ he asks me.

‘Just my foot,’ I lie. I sit up straight and smile.

‘You hop on my back in a second,’ he tells me.

Once I’m securely seated on his back, I wrap my arms around his neck.

‘Maybe, Addy, he says, ‘you persuaded me into thinking about auditioning as your love interest.’

‘Really?’ I ask him. ‘Why?’

‘So I don’t have to be away from you again. I don’t ever want to stay away from you and filming with you means being with you.’

I don’t mean to do it, but I simply press a kiss on his cheek. ‘I would love that too.’

We have one challenge and that is to reach the top of the hill, answering questions along the way, hoping that gives us the right clue. I moved from his back, to his neck, sitting on his shoulders as if I’m a child. I run my fingers through his soft curls, leaning forward every now and then, to send him a smile. ‘I like you,’ I say, when he takes a right on the hill again.

‘I like you a lot too, my sweetheart.’ He says it so carelessly, but little does he know that it goes straight to my heart. I never had someone outside my parents who called me nicknames, to show me that they cared about me. Sure, Angela Bassett called me ‘darling’ every now and then and Keanu Reeves called me ‘cheeky cheeks’, but this… This is so sweet…

‘My sweetheart?’ I ask him. ‘How about you are my prince?’

‘Then you should be my queen.’

I can’t help but laugh. ‘But if I am your queen, then you should be my king. Otherwise it’s not fair.’

‘Your king.’ Henry smiles. He turns his head and kisses the inside of my leg. ‘I like the sound of that.’

I’m nearly vomiting, because that kiss sends tingles down my entire body.

‘I think we’re there,’ he says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

The rest of the duos are already there and we have the marvelous task to go down on the zipline, while answering stupid questions. I step back, first one step, then two and all of the sudden I’m a meter or two behind the rest. Is this program desperately trying to make me shit my pants? Was swimming not enough? Was almost being killed in the haunted house not enough?

‘Come here,’ Henry says, holding my hand, preventing me from going any further away. ‘You’ll do fine.’

‘I might be scared of the dark, I might faint when I have to swim, but heights really is my top one fear.’

‘You’ll do fine. How about I go first? It’s only five minutes.’

‘Five minutes?’ I ask, panic gushing through every vessel. ‘Five minutes is two and a half songs, Henry. That’s too much.’

He smiles. Not like he is laughing at me, but more like he is trying to reassure me. ‘I know it is. Promise me, you can watch through the monitor and you’ll be fine.’

Those five minutes were the most straining of my life, even to watch. I put in my in ear and hear Henry’s voice the first thing. ‘You gonna be okay, Addy. It was not that scary.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ I say, as the man is strapping me in. ‘Is this safe?’ I ask him.

‘Bella, bella,’ the man chuckles, ‘it is safe, promise. Beside, you my favorite actress, I wouldn’t let you die.’

‘Is that supposed to calm me down?’ I ask him, because it is not working. My hands start to shake even more.

‘You are treasure to everyone in Italy,’ he continues. ‘I love your movies, all my friends love your movies.’

I smile. ‘I’m scared,’ I admit.

‘I know, but your man also did it and you seem much tougher than him.’

I place my hand in front of my lips, but I burst out in laughter. ‘I am tougher than my man.’

‘You know I can hear you two?’ Henry says in my ear. ‘But he is right, you are the toughest.’

I get ready and my hands shake as I’m on my stomach in the harness. ‘Are you girls okay?’ Jennifer asks both me and Hailey.

‘Yes ma’am,’ Hailey says.

‘I think I am,’ I answer.

‘Remember,’ we all hear in our in ears. ‘Just a few questions.’

My whistle tone like scream leaves my lips when I’m dropped into the air in my harness. My eyes are closed, when I hear in the question: ‘Okay ladies, ready for the first question?’

‘No!’ I scream, at the same moment as Jennifer and Hailey scream an excited yes.

‘Question one: Which movie did Steven Spielberg win his first Oscar for Best Director?’

‘Schindler’s List,’ I mumble, but it’s loud enough for the others to hear it.

‘That is correct! Question two: What is the capitol of Belarus?’

‘Minsk!’ I scream. ‘Is it over yet?’

I hear Jennifer laugh. ‘Open your eyes, honey,’ she tells me.

‘No, I don’t want to see it.’

Henry chuckles in my in ear. ‘You’re doing great, Addy.’

There is a little bump in the zip line and I think I’m screaming my lungs out. I kind of black out, only being able to answer two more questions, while adrenaline junkies Hailey and Jennifer continue to answer questions and enjoy the few. I know we lost, but all I care about now is not dying.

We come to a pretty abrupt stop and I hear some voices, however I’m not ready to open my eyes. What if I’m still high up there? What if there is something wrong with my zip line? Oh no, I’m gonna die!

‘You can open your eyes again, Addy,’ I hear Henry say and I carefully open one of my eyes. I see it’s him and he smiles at me. ‘You did great.’

‘I’m not dead?’ I ask him, looking around me.

‘You’re not dead, as if I would allow that.’ He helps me out of the harness and I cling onto him like a monkey, hugging him tightly.

‘I’m so sorry I didn’t do great. I know for a fact that we didn’t win. I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t apologize,’ he says. ‘Besides, you answered four questions. If someone was not doing great, it was me, being distracting by nature.’

I look in his eyes. His face is close, his hot breath against my lips… I shouldn’t do it, I think to myself. I shouldn’t kiss him.

However, when I see him biting his bottom lip, looking more handsome than ever. I can barely contain myself.

I place my hands on his cheeks, my thumbs softly touching his lips.

‘What are you thinking, Addy?’ he asks me with a smile.

I sigh deeply. What does it matter if the world knows that we are in love? Because we are right? We are in love… We had near kiss experiences during this survival trip, he kissed my leg, I kissed his cheek. I lean in, pressing my lips against his, before we open our mouths simultaneously.

Henry wraps his arms even tighter around me, as he deepens the kiss.

‘I am so sorry, Henry,’ I whisper against his hot lips, as mine are on fire.

‘No, don’t you ever be sorry about kissing me.’ He smiles, squeezing my leg. ‘Now come back here, kiss me again.’

◎◎◎

  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Three days pass. Henry and I are still in the cottage, but there are no cameras around us. I think I am and will be forever grateful that they are gone now. We can finally breath and act like a normal couple. Thanks to the Celebrity Project, I met Henry and I’m thankful that I did, but those camera’s are a pain in the ass and will never be missed.

Jennifer Lopez and Charlie Puth showed everyone that they were a whole lot better than the rest of us. Henry and I came in second, but we are fan favorites and to be honest: I think that is the best prize I could’ve ever won. Tonight there is a special live event with the other duos and after that, it’s officially over.

I can’t wait for that.

I keep trying to make some lunch for Henry and me, but ever since the camera’s are gone, Henry has turned into a piece of velcro. He distracts me with kisses on my temple, wraps his strong arms around my waist as he stands behind me. ‘Stop tickling me,’ I chuckle, as he pushes up my shirt, so he can touch my bare skin.

‘I’m not tickling you,’ he retorts with a chuckle. ‘I’m hugging you.’

‘You _are_ tickling me,’ I laugh. ‘Come on, Henry, pasta will be ruined.’

He simply shrugs. ‘I don’t care.’

‘You are awfully clingy,’ I note. ‘What is up with you?’

Henry reaches over to turn off the gas and turns me around, to hide his face in my neck, kissing me there. ‘Just obsessed with you.’ He bites his lip when he looks at me again. ‘You look beautiful, Addy. Every time I look at you, you are even more beautiful than you were the last time I saw you.’

This should not make me blush, but obviously it does anyways. Everything he says and does to me, I turn into a giggling and blushing mess. ‘Shut up,’ I whisper.

‘No, never.’ He hoists me up in his arms with a satisfied grin on his face and carries me as if I’m nothing to the couch.

I sit on his lap and whisper: ‘What are you doing, Henry?’

He takes a deep breath, as he frowns a bit. ‘Am I going too fast?’ he then asks. ‘I can stop if you want me to, Addy.’

‘No, no,’ I say. ‘I like this, I really do, but it’s real now. I haven’t done this when it’s real.’ I simply shrug and add: ‘And now you stare at me and I figure there is so much going on inside your head and I have no idea what.’

His hands rest on my hips, his eyes locked with mine and a small smile toys on his face. ‘You want to know what is going on inside my head?’

‘Yes.’

‘I keep thinking about how I’m so lucky. I didn’t even want to participate,’ he admits. ‘But I met you here and fell in love so quickly. I have never fallen in love with anyone this fast. I keep asking myself what I did to deserve you. You deserve so much better than this. Better than me.’

I shake my head. ‘Don’t cut yourself short like that, Henry. If there is someone who doesn’t deserve this, it’s me. And don’t you dare to tell me otherwise.’

But Henry wouldn’t be Henry, because he already opens his mouth, daring to tell me otherwise. I lean in, to shut him up with a kiss. While he lets it happen and I fully surrender myself to his lips, his words keep running through my mind. He is falling in love with me. I’m falling in love with him.

When I let go, I let out a shaky breath. So much is running through my mind. Love, fear, lust.

‘Come here,’ he whispers, pulling me close to his chest as I melt against his frame. ‘You are tense. What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ However, I just come to a realization. ‘Oh my.’

‘What is it?’

‘Are you my boyfriend?’

Henry starts to laugh, letting his head fall back.

‘Why are you laughing at me?’ I ask him, slapping him across his chest. ‘Forget I asked.’ I already want to step off his lap, however he is faster and stronger. He pulls me flush against his chest. ‘Let me go,’ I laugh.

‘I wasn’t laughing at you, Addy. I was laughing because you are adorable. If you want me to be your boyfriend, I’d be honored.’

Good thing I was already blushing. ‘You want me as your girlfriend?’ I ask him.

‘I’d love that.’ He places his hands on both sides of my face and runs his thumbs over my lips. ‘You are beautiful and my girlfriend.’ He sounds so giddy and my heart misses a few beats. ‘My girlfriend Adelaide Park.’

◎◎◎

Henry has wrapped his thick arm around my shoulders as we sit outside our cottage in front of some large screens. We are catching up with the other couples and Jennifer mentions something about not being able to wait until she can sleep in her own bed again and not hearing Charlie snore again.

‘And from the looks of it,’ Justin says to me, ‘You two will be sharing a bed more often.’

‘Don’t say stuff like that,’ I chuckle, as I am nearly puking with embarrassment.

Justin starts to chuckle. ‘So, what did you two do these days without camera’s?’

His wife Hailey slaps his stomach. ‘Don’t tease her like that. Look at her cheeks.’ She turns to Henry and says: ‘Come on, mister Witcher, protect your girl.’

Henry only clears his throat and Justin quickly tells us that he won’t do it anymore. The energy Henry Cavill possesses.

I now know for a fact that I should never ever let him go.

Jennifer quickly gives a short speech, telling us how great it was to get to know us, to be part of this first ever season of the program and how much she would love it, if we would do a reunion after a few months.

We watch some fan reactions of the last episode and much to my dismay, we have to rewatch our kiss a billion times. It’s embarrassing to watch the first time, but it’s not getting any easier the fourth or eight time.

‘Look at this response on Twitter,’ Jennifer laughs. ‘“They are so cute, it makes me wanna hurl”. You two are disgustingly cute, that’s a truth.’

The night continues and I hum in content when I know it’s almost over. We watch footage of us when we first arrived here, the only ones not being awkward, were Justin and Hailey obviously.

‘But, what was Henry like before he started here?’ the voiceover of a man sounds through the boxes. He tenses up beside me and I look at him, before I return my eyes back to the screen again.

Henry is in an office I don’t recognize, with men I don’t know. ‘I have to work with her?’ I hear Henry ask, as he is looking at my headshot. ‘This is so unfair. Have you any idea how unfair this is? I’m supposed to win this thing. How am I gonna win this, if I have to work with her?’

I swallow hard, as I stare at the screen and sit up straight. I shrug off his arm from my shoulders. Is this real?

‘We never said it would be easy, Henry,’ I hear someone else say. ‘But work with Adelaide, make sure you two can win this thing and please, don’t make it too obvious what your intentions are.’

I feel tears in my eyes. _Intentions…_

‘Fine, but when I win, James Bond is mine?’ Henry asks.

‘Addy, listen to me,’ Henry whispers, but I don’t. I listen to what is happening on the screen. I recognize this, when the screen switches to outside. This was the day we went shopping, the day where we snuck in kisses.

‘You’re losing, Henry. You what that means, right? You’re not getting James Bond,’ a different male voice says.

‘We’re not too far behind,’ Henry answers. ‘I’ll get her to man up, so we can win this.’

I think I would’ve preferred if Henry just punched my nose back into my face. I’ll get her to man up? Did he seriously just say that.

‘And, I never knew you were such a good actor. I almost believed you actually care about her.’

On screen Henry sighs. ‘Maybe after this, I’ll get even more jobs.’

The air has turned cold as ice. Everyone is quiet and I stare at the blacked out screen. The only thing I hear is the pounding of my heart in my ears. My eye twitches as my jaw clenches. I need to get out of here. I need to get away from him.

Henry carefully places a hand on my back, but I stand up and walk inside. Thankfully we were at our cottage, since it has the best lighting, so I’m back there in a few seconds. I slam the door shut behind me and rush to the living room.

 _I should’ve known. I should’ve fucking known_. This was obviously too good to be true. How could I be such an idiot? Finally, fucking finally I have cleared my reputation of being so stupid and ditzy and now this happens. The whole world knows I simply fell for Henry Cavill, because I was easy.

I’m such a dumb cow.

‘Addy, let me explain,’ Henry says, who walks into our bedroom. No wait, not our bedroom. _The_ bedroom. _A_ bedroom.

I grab my suitcase before I place it on the bed. ‘What is there to explain?’ I ask him, as I start folding my clothes. ’It was pretty fucking obvious to me. You only par- parti- par-ti-ci-pa-ted to get that stupid James Bond part. You don’t like me, despite what you said to me. You just used me to get the job and more job offers.’ I push passed him, to grab my stuff from the bathroom.

At that exact moment a cameraman barges in, not wanting to let this moment go to waste, but somehow I don’t seem to care. I don’t even want to care. I’m just too mad at him right now to give a damn.

‘I didn’t use you,’ Henry says.

I open the door a lot harder than I’m supposed to, letting it smash against the wall, as my eyes fill with tears, all because of his wrong doing. ‘Enlighten me, Henry, what did you do then? Because judging from what you and I just watched and the rest of the world just watched, it made it seem like you were using me to get what you wanted.’

He sighs. ‘I meant what I said to you. I like you and I am falling in love with you.’

‘Hurray,’ I deadpan. I put everything in my suitcase and close it.

Henry swallows hard. ‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m going to the airport, so I can buy myself a ticket home, to visit my parents. You know, I know for a fact that they care about me for who I am and they would never ever use me the way you used me.’ I stare at my suitcase for a while and seeing my passport on top of it, makes a sob leave my eyes. I hide my face in both of my hands, as my shoulders shake when I cry.

‘No, Addy, please,’ he says, placing his hand on my shoulder, but I slap him away.

‘Stay away from me,’ I spit out, ‘and don’t you dare call me Addy anymore. Let… Le… Let me…’ _Why can’t I find the right words to say now?_ ‘I’m going to tell you a few things and you cannot interrupt me.’

‘Okay,’ he simply says.

‘You stay as far from me as possible. I would like you to never ever mention me in an in… interview again. I don’t want you in my life anymore, neither do I want to be part of yours. You bet… betra…’ I take a deep breath as I try to get the word out of my mouth correctly. ‘You be-tray-ed me, Henry. You used me and I genuinely thought you cared about me. You know how hard it is for me to open up and… Never mind, I just hate the way you make me feel right now.’

‘There isn’t anything I can do to make it up to you?’ he asks. ‘Because I want to make this up to you. There must be something.’

I shake my head. ‘This isn’t something you can fix. What you told whoever those men were and what you told me… Those things aren’t the same. It’s either one or the other. And yes, you can change your mind, but the least you could’ve done, is told me about it. If you meant what you said to me, you would’ve had the decency to be honest with me. You should’ve told me your second agenda before you told me you fell in love with me, before you kissed me.’

Henry blinks a few times. ‘Adelaide, this can’t be the end.’

‘It’s the end,’ I say with more certainty than I have ever heard myself speak with. I simply grab my suitcases and walk out of the room.

Tears run over my cheeks as I brush passed the others, who want to know if I’m okay, but I’m not. I’m not okay and I know I won’t be for awhile. I need to go to see my dad, to hug my mom. I don’t want to be in Italy anymore, I need to go home and be with them.

I already spot a taxi at the stand, but before I can approach him, I hear a: ‘Adelaide, please wait a second.’

I stop walking and I hear two pair of footsteps. Those stupid camera people, I’m not going to miss them.

‘Don’t I get to say something to you?’ he asks, as he stands in front of me.

‘You said enough behind my back already,’ I tell him. ‘Get out of the way. Don’t make this harder than it already is.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Sorry won’t cut it,’ I tell him, a lot harsher than I did before.

Henry rubs his face, before gently holding my hand. I know I shouldn’t let him do this, but I just want to feel his touch one more time, because I know this is going to be the last time I’ll ever feel it.

‘Henry, please, let me go.’

‘I am willing to do anything in the world to make it up to you, Adelaide Park. You are one of a kind. You are the one that I want to get to know even better.’

‘Don’t,’ I say. ‘Just don’t. Don’t contact me ever again, don’t audition for the part as my love interest and please if you ever see me before I see you, walk away. I can’t have you in my life.’

‘No, please,’ Henry says, holding my hand up to his chest, placing his other on top of his own. ‘I can’t lose you, Adelaide. What I said to my agent, before we met… It was true. I only participated because I wanted James Bond, but what I told you is true as well. I don’t want James Bond anymore. I just want you.’

‘Let me go,’ I say, not looking at him. ‘Please, Henry, now.’

‘Adelaide,’ he whispers.

‘Right now.’

He lets go of my hand and sighs deeply. ‘Is this the end?’ he asks. ‘Please, this can’t be the end.’

My sniffle is his answer and it’s all I can give him. ‘Goodbye, Henry.’


	9. Chapter 9

◎ ◎ ◎

When I earned my first million dollars, I bought a mansion for my parents, with elevators so my mom could be mobile and be everywhere in the house whenever she wanted.

The cab stops at the tiny roundabout I had built in front of the mansion and the driver helps me with my suitcases. ‘Thank you,’ I say with a quick smile, giving him a fifty dollar tip.

‘Are you sure, miss?’ he asks me.

‘Absolutely,’ I tell him. ‘Have a nice day.’

The front door opens and while the cab drives off, my dad rushes towards me. I’m nailed to the gravel, but tears still escape my eyes and roll over my cheeks.

_I missed him so much._

‘Come here,’ he says, as he pulls me in his arms, engulfing me in one of the safest hugs in the world. No matter what happened, a hug from my dad always helps. When I scraped my knee when I was younger, when I didn’t get a part I really wanted and now.

A hug from my _appa_ is sometimes the only thing that makes me feel a little bit better under shitty circumstances like this.

‘ _Appa_ , I’m so sorry,’ I whisper against his shoulder.

‘Don’t,’ he tells me. ‘You are here. I am here. _Eomma_ and I love you very much, no matter what.’

He can’t be this sweet, not after what happened. ‘I screwed up.’

‘You did not.’ My dad holds my upper arms and forces me to look at him. He actually seems a bit pissed when he says: ‘He screwed up, not you. Never.’

I wipe my tears away, but the tap is open now, so they are replaced by others in a split second. He holds my hand tightly in his and pulls me inside, as we both carry a suitcase.

‘I’m happy you’re home,’ he tells me. ‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you too.’ And that isn’t a lie. I missed him dearly and holding his hand, brings me back tons of years ago, when I would hold his hand as he was wandering around the house, trying to ease his mind and not let his worries get to him. I barely took walks with him, so pacing around our tiny house, was the only time I could pretend we were like every other father-daughter pair: he would hold my hand as he guided me through life, my obstacles how significant or insignificant they seemed.

When I walk inside, I see my mom already waiting for me. I run towards her and hug her tightly. She presses a kiss on my cheek and says: ‘Where is this Henry? I have to see him, so I can run him over with wheelchair.’

I can’t stop my chuckle, but that chuckle turns into a soft cry. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. ‘I let you two down.’

‘You didn’t let us down,’ she says. ‘Henry Cavill did. I thought he was nice. Good for you. He is an idiot.’

‘Don’t,’ I start, but when I see the death glare my mom sends me, I quickly shut up. Besides, who do I think I am? Sticking up for Henry when a) he can’t even hear me and b) he hurt me badly and lied to me?

_What on earth possesses me?_

The entire flight I thought about it. About Henry and me. I can’t believe I was this blind, I totally fell for it and just believed him. This is obviously partially my fault of course. Hadn’t I done this, hadn’t I been this blind, I would’ve just become friends with him and then my heart wouldn’t have been severely broken like it is now.

My parents and I go to the kitchen and we prepare some tea. I talk to them about the show and how they enjoyed most parts of it. ‘It was good to see you like that,’ my father says. ‘You don’t have to be so private and serious all the time.’

I simply nod, not knowing exactly how to respond to it.

‘We love you,’ mom says, ‘and we always will, _dasom_.’

‘I love you too.’ My phone starts to vibrate on the counter and I look at the screen.

David?

‘I have to take this,’ I say and while I walk out of the kitchen, I pick up the phone. ‘Hi.’

David Castañeda sounds cheerful when he asks: ‘Hi, Adelaide, how are you?’

‘You honestly have to ask that?’ I mumble, before I go to the conservatory and plop on a couch. I look over at the backyard, where the sprinklers are on.

‘Stupid question,’ he says. ‘I’m terribly sorry. Thought Henry Cavill was a real nice dude, but this was pretty shitty. You want to be distracted? I have pretty exciting news.’

‘Please, tell me something fun. I could really need it..’

‘I got the part.’

It takes me a few seconds before I understand it. ‘You got it?’ I ask, a smile creeping up on my face. A new project means distraction and distraction means not thinking about Henry. ‘Oh my, are you serious? This is amazing.’

‘I know right, so just when I cut my hair short again, they told me to start growing it out,’ he chuckles.

I start to laugh, as I envision him as I close my eyes. ‘I can’t wait to see you again,’ I say in all honesty, because it’s true. I can’t wait to see him again. I know David and I know what an honest and lovely guy he is. I could open up to Henry, but he didn’t deserve it. David does deserve my honesty and I know the he will never betray me like that.

‘I can’t wait to see you,’ he tells me. ‘Production starts in two months, but I sure hope you and I can meet up before that? I mean, if that’s okay with you?’

‘That’s more than okay, David. I really want to catch up. I don’t have much to do, so I can meet up and start binging season two of the Umbrella Academy.’

‘You still haven’t done that?’ He scoffs. ‘Deeply insulted, Adelaide Park.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, ‘but I have been pretty occupied these weeks.’

David sighs deeply, knowing instantly what I’m referring to. ‘I’m so sorry that this happened during a live stream. Are you okay, though?’

‘I’m fine,’ I lie, but I’m not even convinced by that myself, so I quickly add: ‘Well, I’m not, but I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘Understandably so,’ he tells me. ‘I do have to go now, but I just had to tell you this. We’ll catch up soon, Adelaide.’

◎ ◎ ◎

**Angela Bassett:** Darling, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I spoke to Henry and while I understand you don’t want to talk to him, he really wants you to know he’s sorry.

**Adelaide:** You’ve been talking to him?

**Angela Bassett:** I have, yes.

**Adelaide:** Could you maybe tell him something from me?

**Angela Bassett:** Absolutely

**Adelaide:** That I don’t want to see him ever again, nor talk to him.

◎ ◎ ◎

◎ ◎ ◎

It has been two weeks since the terrible livestream. However, I do realize how insanely lucky I am with my fans. The once prior and after the Celebrity Project. I read so many comments about how I didn’t deserve this and that I’m better off without him anyways.

I just had my first event after The Celebrity Project and the responses to it were so overwhelmingly positive, my heart simply swelled when I was reading them. Sure, people were tagging Henry in it and that made me pretty furious, but I feel like I can actually overcome this.

I walk through the park, staring at my phone screen. David and I are supposed to meet up and he shared his location with me, however I can’t seem to find him. According to the app, he should be on my right, but I don’t see him when I look up. When I stare back at the phone, the bubble indicating where he is has moved and is now somewhere else. I growl out of frustration.

Does it really have to be this difficult?

‘There she is,’ I hear a voice saying me behind me and when I turn around, I see it’s David. A smile breaks out on my face and I run towards him. When I wrap my arms around his shoulders, he pulls me close to his body. ‘I missed you, Adelaide.’

‘I missed you too,’ I smile and I let him go to take him in. ‘Oh my, look at you. Are you excessively working out again?’

‘Diego Hargreeves is supposed to have a very low body fat percentage,’ he tells me with a cocked eyebrow. ‘But, I have been doing absolutely nothing these past few weeks, as preparation for our movie.’ He holds out a cardboard holder with two paper cups in them. ‘I brought you an iced cappuccino with vanilla syrup, just the way you like it.’

He remembered… ‘You are amazing, David, thank you.’ We take a seat on a park bench and I look to the side. ‘What?’ I ask him, when he looks at me.

‘You look good.’

‘Don’t even start,’ I say, before taking a sip.

He must sense I don’t want to talk about the whole Henry thing. ‘Tell me something else then: are you excited for the movie?’

‘Of course,’ I say with a smile. ‘And they are going to bleach my hair soon.’

‘Ah really? I love this color.’

‘I do too, but the director has a very specific type of journalist in mind for this movie. Besides, I think a refreshing blonde is a nice contrast when it comes to your brooding character.’

‘Brooding is what I do best.’ David takes a sip of his drink and closes his eyes, as he soaks up the sun. ‘Is there anything you want to do in Switzerland?’

‘I heard there was a special class to learn to do the waltz. Maybe you and I can do that.’

‘Dancing with the Adelaide Park? Sign me the fuck up.’

I nudge him in the side. ‘You’re an idiot.’ Before he can be even slightly offended, even if it were fake, I smile. ‘Joking.’

He smiles. ‘I know you don’t want to talk about the Celebrity Project, but I do have to say something.’

‘Better make it quick then and I have to warn you: I don’t want to hear his name.’

He nods. ‘I just wanted to say that it was good seeing you like this. I have always wondered what you were like. I mean, I knew you were nice, but you were so serious from time to time, so private, even after filming for so long and doing interviews together. I get that it can be hard to open up, but knowing these things about you now, after watching the show, made me realize you have been putting on a brave face for way too long.’

I take another sip. ‘Well, I’ll try and do better.’

‘Don’t try and do better,’ he says. ‘Try and be yourself, because being yourself is better.’

‘Oh, how wise,’ I chuckle, rolling my eyes.

‘Should I write this down and post this with an inspirational picture on Instagram?’

‘To delete it twenty minutes afterwards?’ I slap his arm. ‘Hopeless, David, very hopeless.’

He smiles. ‘Just pinky promise me you can try to be honest with me. Practice being open and yourself around me, okay? I won’t judge.’ He holds out his pinky and I chuckle, when I hook my pinky through his and say: ‘Pinky promise.’

◎ ◎ ◎


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the pictures don't come through, please check the story out on my tumblr!   
> https://keanureevesisbae.tumblr.com/post/637186230672588800/the-alluring-charm-of-henry-cavill-chapter-10

## 1 hour after the livestream

Henry fucked up. Henry _truly_ fucked up. After he watched Adelaide step into that cab, the tears so evident in her eyes, he pushed all the cameramen out of his sight and didn’t want the other contestants to ask him any questions about this.

And because Henry obviously has a mature and adult way of dealing with his emotions, he locks himself up in the bedroom. The same bedroom where he made all those memories with Adelaide. He remembers her sleeping as soon as she would hit the mattress. Her fingers grazing over his arm. Her sleeping body securely in his arms, her head on his chest and the soft good morning kisses when they slept in the tent during their last challenge.

He takes ahold of the pillow Adelaide slept on and as he sits on the bed, he brings it to his face. He pushes his nose into the fabric, as he can still smell the hints of her perfume, her skincare products and her shampoo.

Tears of frustration burn in his eyes, as he continues to remember the hurt in Adelaide’s eyes just now. All because of him.

_He fucking hates himself._

Yes, he cannot and will not deny the fact he _did_ talk poorly about her, however he regrets every syllable of it. He knows better now, so much better. Adelaide Park is amazing and has so much to offer. They were planing on getting to know each other even better after this stupid program had ended.

But that is all over now and it’s all is fault.

He hates this show, every single producer and editor who works here and his agency. _Especially_ his agency. He wants to sue every single one of them who were involved in making that heinous compilation, the one blew everything out of proportion, but he needs to think this over, before he makes any rash decisions. Decisions that might only do more damage than any good.

Henry stands up from the bed, to grab his suitcase and starts packing. He needs to leave this place, go back to England, to his own place and think about this.

Adelaide specifically asked not to mention her or talk to her and he should honor her wishes. That is the least he can do after everything that happened.

However, he should release a statement of his own. He should leave his agency. He should reach out to her in another way than directly contacting her. He needs to know whether or not she is okay.

Well, she might not be okay, but he needs to know how she feels. That she knows he is sorry, because he is sorry.

Very sorry.

Fuck, he is such a loser for letting her go like this. Adelaide was totally right. He should’ve been honest with her. Told her about his earlier thoughts regarding her and why he participated in the first place, but also specifically tell her how he changed his mind.

About her, about them, about him playing James Bond.

Henry grabs his phone, so he can check when the first flight back to England is, but he stops mid unlocking his phone and stares at his background. A few days ago, he changed his wallpaper in a picture of the both of them, sitting on the couch. Adelaide’s arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek pressed against his and her eyes shine with happiness.

Henry growls out of frustration. ‘Fuck,’ he hisses between clenched jaws. He already misses her, only sixty minutes after the live stream. He needs to think about this, because he will do anything to clear her reputation, to make it up to her.

Simply because he cares about her and only her.

His Adelaide Park.

◎ ◎ ◎

## 1 day after the livestream

‘Pick up, pick up, pick up,’ Henry mutters impatiently when he has his phone pressed against his ear. He is back home, as he wanders through his house. He really needs her to pick up. He needs to talk to her.

‘Henry,’ he hears Angela say in a flat tone when she finally picks up. Okay, she is mad and rightly so. ‘How are you?’

‘Not good,’ he answers in all honesty, because lying to Angela Bassett is only asking for trouble really. ‘Please, don’t spare me. I know you saw the livestream, I know you think I fucked up.’

She scoffs. ‘Well, in that case: you truly messed this up. I can’t believe you did this, Henry. Adelaide Park has been nothing but an angel to you and I honestly thought you liked her.’

‘I do like her,’ he says in a defensive and louder tone.

She is not impressed with his tone. ‘And yet you still broke her heart. What a way to show her you care.’

_He doesn’t need to get defensive._ This is all his own fault and he deserves this. ‘I know. I’m a fucking idiot.’

‘That’s an understatement,’ she mumbles. ‘Tell me, what do you want from me?’

Henry lets out a deep sigh. ‘I don’t want to call her, because she told me not to talk to her. I want to respect that and I need to respect that, but I have to let her know at least one more time how sorry I am. I regret the words, I regret not being honest to her. I’ll accept whatever answer I get, but I need her to know how sorry I am.’

Angela doesn’t say anything and Henry fears he overstepped. Overstepped _a lot_.

‘Okay,’ she says, ‘I’ can do that. However, after this, you really need to reflect on this situation. You have broken her heart and ruined it for yourself. Get away from that abysmal agency you’re under contract with and share a statement on every social media platform you have.’

‘I’m already drafting something and I really want to leave that agency, I can tell you that.’

‘Good, because you need to clear your name. I don’t know if that is going to work, but you need to at least try.’

‘I know. Thanks Angela. I owe you.’

‘You sure do,’ she says and hangs up shortly afterwards.

Henry takes a seat on the stool at the bar and looks at the piece of paper on the counter, filled with scribbles and notes. He should make a neutral statement, where his sorry and remorse clearly comes through. He has seen the reactions on her pictures. Fans constantly tag him underneath her pictures and her underneath his and he sincerely hopes they stop doing that.

She doesn’t deserve this at all. She doesn’t need to be reminded of his actions on every social media platform she’s on.

He continues to scribble down words and eventual sentences he can use in his statement. Angela is right: he should do this.

He doesn’t know how long he is bend over the notebook, as he continues to write down a statement that actually satisfies him, but he gets pulled out of his thoughts when he sees the screenshot Angela has send to him.

And it’s what he expected. Adelaide doesn’t accept his apology (which he understands) and she tells Angela she doesn’t want to talk to him ever again, let alone see him. He opens up her Instagram, stares at her beautiful face. He misses her, but this is all his fault.

And Henry should live with that.

◎ ◎ ◎

## 2 weeks after the livestream

Henry stares at the screen on his laptop, as he checks out the announcement for the newest movie starring Adelaide and David Castañeda. He keeps wondering what would’ve happened if he actually had auditioned for it.

Wondering is all he does nowadays. Wondering how his life would look like now if he has just been honest with Adelaide. Wondering about them together, if the livestream went well, instead of exploded in the way it did.

He “broke up” with his agency and is currently looking at others, hoping to find himself a new and suitable one. One that wouldn’t do something like this. He always had a little bit of issues with the previous agency, but they offered him pretty decent jobs and he figured that was the most important thing. He never realized how much they interfered in his own personal life.

Henry closes his laptop. He barely left the house after he got back from Italy, except to do some groceries, so he wouldn’t starve to death. He is barely on his phone, just to let Angela, his family and friends know he is sort of doing okay. However he does turn down every invitation to hang out, simply because he can’t face anyone right now. He can barely face himself.

While he continues to attend his own pity party, he has checked what Adelaide has been doing and from the looks of it, she is doing great. She is absolutely glowing and obviously dealing much better with this than he is. She has been putting on a brave face for years now, so dealing with this seems like a piece of cake to her.

At least, that’s what it looks like to the public. During Tommy Hilfiger collaboration, she had this calm glow over her and the reactions underneath the pictures told her so as well.

Later the newest movie announcement with her, David, Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd was made. After that announcement, she has been pretty active on Instagram again and he has seen the pictures pop up at his explore page. He resists the urge to check her stories, but decides it would be for the best he doesn’t do that, simply because he feels like he shouldn’t intrude like that.

Fuck, he wishes he would feel better, but he doesn’t. Deep down he feels like he should forgive himself and at least try and move on, but he can’t seem to find the strength to forgive himself for his actions.

His fans reacted well to his statement and lots of people said reality tv can make everything look worse than it actually is. While it was definitely made worse than it actually was, he still feels bad and realizes he shouldn’t be as easily forgiven as he is now.

Henry is still thinking about suing the program, but he decided to just drop it. He doesn’t even have the energy to think about a lawsuit, let alone actually do it.

There is one thing to be happy and grateful about: Adelaide seems to do okay and for now, that is all that actually matters to him.

◎ ◎ ◎

## 1 month after the livestream

The 8seconds event Adelaide attended for her collaboration with them, might’ve been the worst things that happened to either of them since the livestream. Henry did look up the event, because he just wants to continue to see how she is doing. He saw the moment the journalists could ask questions and especially the second one journalist asked if Adelaide had spoken to Henry after the statement and what she thought of it. Her face never showed any emotions and she simply thanked everyone for their time and walked off.

Almost as if it was a diversion planned beforehand, David Castañeda posted a picture on his Instagram of her and the attention was immediately shifted away of the awkward matter. People are now speculating whether or not the two of them are dating and while Henry thinks that is not the case, you simply never know. The public at least is already shipping them and Henry would lie if he didn’t think the two of them would be a great match.

Henry finally managed to drag himself out of his own house and he is now at his parents. He did ask them if they couldn’t ask about Adelaide, since he would like to forget about the situation and so far, they thankfully honored his wishes.

She continues to feed him with extra little cupcakes and cookies and normally he would politely decline, but now he eats like he hasn’t eaten for days. He goes to the gym a whole lot nowadays, to get his mind of the whole Adelaide situation, so he doesn’t really care.

‘Okay, dear, I know you are still sad, but it has been four weeks,’ his mom says, as she places her hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. So much for not mentioning Adelaide. ‘You released the statement, you let go of your old management and you are keeping your side of the bargain. You are not texting her, you are not mentioning her. Yes, you hurt her, but you have learned from this.’

‘I know, I know.’ He rubs his face and looks up at his mom. ‘I just can’t believe I did this.’

‘Me neither,’ his dad mumbles. ‘I thought we taught you better than that.’

This hurts, but Henry deserves this. ‘You did.’

His dad sits up straight on the couch and stares at him, without even saying anything to him. No matter how old Henry is, that still makes him nervous. ‘You better have learned from this, Henry, because I’m rather disappointed in you.’

◎ ◎ ◎

## 2 months after the livestream

◎ ◎ ◎

## 5 months after the livestream

Henry managed to get his life kinda back to how it was pre-Adelaide. He has found himself a new agency and a wonderful agent, Julia, who managed to get him a great new role in a sci-fi movie. The filming process went great and he loved to be on set again.

Right now he is on his first press tour for the movie he did before the Celebrity Project ‘The Royal Heist’ with Anne Hathaway as his co-star.

Of course he still thinks about Adelaide, he thinks about her quite often as a matter of fact. He watches her interviews, he sometimes sees a picture of her on his Instagram explore page. Sometimes it’s a picture she posted herself, sometimes it’s a picture posted by David or someone else from the crew or a fan account.

It’s hard sometimes, not to think about her. Occasionally he wakes up un the middle of the night, thinking about her and seeing her laugh flash in front of his eyes. He realizes that of course he misses her, but it’s for the best they both move on without one another. From the looks of it, she is absolutely glowing and for that he is forever grateful. He feared she would blame herself, maybe completely hide herself, but she doesn’t. She has flourished and is not afraid to show it to the entire world. During her interviews she seems relaxed and makes a joke every now and then.

Henry sits next to Anne, as they are about to answer some questions about the new movie. The two of them joke around a bit, as Anne just recently discovered the wonders of Snapchat filters. It’s nice to have fun and not feel guilty as he did before. When he witnessed Adelaide having fun and being happy again, he felt it was okay for him to do so as well.

The questions about the movie are pretty basic, but after a while the interviewer seems less nervous than when he started. However, him feeling more confident, might have given him the impression he can actually ask questions he really shouldn’t be asking.

‘After the Celebrity Project, have you and Adelaide Park cleared the air with one another?’

Henry clenches his jaw. He wants to say a lot to this man. How he should mind his own fucking business, how Henry is going to rearrange his face for asking such thing, but then he remembers what Adelaide wanted from him.

He managed to do so for five months and he will not quit. Not now. ‘I thought my agent told you before hand I will not answer any Celebrity Project related questions.’

The interviewer doesn’t seem to care and continues to ask questions about how Adelaide was in real life, what they did when the camera’s were off and what he would do to make it up to the actress.

While he is nearly exploding with rage and anger, Anne manages to divert the conversation and when the end is near, Henry doesn’t thank the interviewer. He simply gets up to go outside for a fresh breath of air. The second he is outside, he takes a deep breath. Turned out he maybe wasn’t over Adelaide as much as he thought he was.

Henry grabs his phone and does something he hasn’t done for a while now. He goes to her account and checks the pictures. He sees the amount of David Castañeda related posts, so he goes to the actor’s page, where he sees excess of Adelaide pictures. She looks radiant and beautiful.

‘You okay?’ Anne asks, as she walks out of the building to stand next to him.

‘Yeah, I’m okay,’ he says, closing off Instagram and pushing his phone back into his pocket. ‘I made a promise and I wanted to keep that one.’

‘You did,’ she says with a smile. ‘Really, don’t let that idiot get to you. Weirdly enough, this is his job and you did well. As a thank you for diffusing the situation, you can buy me a coffee later today. Now, let’s go back inside. I’m wearing a flimsy bra and I don’t want the entire world to know I’m freezing.’

◎ ◎ ◎

## 8 months after the livestream

It has been eight whole months after the livestream and Henry finally thinks he is actually over the entire situation. The Royal Heist is nominated for an award, just like he was for his role in the movie. The rude interviewer three months ago was the last one to bring up Adelaide and thankfully he was, because Henry might’ve thrown some punches if someone asked about it.

He runs his hand over his black velvet jacket, before Anne stands next to him and says: ‘Maybe you should frown a little less.’

‘I’m not frowning,’ he says with a smile. ‘Just concentrated.’

‘Thus frowning.’

The two of them are guided by some very nervous assistants, who are managing the photo opts. And while he is slightly distracted by Anne and her embarrassing stories about other red carpets events, the commands of the paparazzi are becoming louder and louder and it gains his attention.

‘Adelaide, look over here! You look beautiful!’ Henry stretches out his neck and sees Adelaide Park, looking beautiful as ever.

The white dress she wears hugs her figure nicely and the matching heels create the illusion her legs are endless. Her long blonde hair, probably lengthened by extensions, is pulled together in a fancy ponytail.

Henry thought he was doing pretty well over the past months, thinking he was over her, but seeing her in real life… It makes him realize him being over her was all pretend. He can’t forget her.

Adelaide Park is the love of his life.

Fuck, what a moment to come to that realization.

He watches closely as David Castañeda stands next to her as he joins her. He plays her love interest in the movie, the man that has been all over her Instagram and the same man who she has done multiple interviews with. David looks like a nice guy, who seems a great friend to Adelaide.

David places his hand on her waist and together they pose for the camera. It’s weird seeing her like this. This at ease with someone else. When Henry met her, she was tense with stress, but that all disappeared. Of course he kept track of her, mostly to see how she was doing.

And she was blossoming and still is.

Henry watched their new movie, ‘Warm Up Period’ and it was an amazing romantic comedy, one of the best he has ever seen. Adelaide sure has a way of acting in these types of movies. It was all part of the job of course, he knows that, but he couldn’t push away those jealous thoughts he experienced when he watched their more intimate scenes. It’s all pretend—he knows that—but he could feel their connection through the screen. The way David touched her bare back, how the camera zoomed in on the goosebumps on her skin, the kisses they shared.

It was enough to make him green with jealousy.

‘You haven’t heard one single bit of what I was telling,’ Anne Hathaway concludes and he quickly looks at her. ‘You’re still not over her, aren’t you?’

He doesn’t know what to say. ‘I’m just happy to see she’s doing good,’ he eventually says, while still looking at her. Maybe she senses that someone is gawking at her, because she looks to the side, but he quickly looks away.

That’s what she wanted from him. If he saw her before she saw him, he should walk away.

◎ ◎ ◎

Afterparties aren’t really Henry’s thing, but he feels obligated to stay, especially after he won ‘Best Actor’. Other actors congratulate him as he makes his way through the hall and he puts on a brave face, but in all honesty: he is feeling miserable.

From a distance, he sees Adelaide standing all by herself. He could simply do it, he thinks to himself. He could walk up to her and talk to her. If she doesn’t want him there, he’ll understand and walk away.

Reluctantly, he walks up to her and when he is close enough for her to hear him, he takes a deep breath. He really is going to do this… ‘Hi Adelaide,’ he gently says to her.

She looks up, her eyes enlarging when she realizes it’s him. From up close she is even more beautiful. She looks breathtakingly gorgeous with blonde hair, but he misses the way her light brown hair made her look. It reminds him of a time where things were simpler and better.

Adelaide blinks a few times and says: ‘Hi,’ in a soft tone.

He missed hearing her voice. ‘If you don’t want to talk to me, just say so. I was just wondering how you’ve been.’

She clears her throat, as she studies his face. ‘I’m good,’ she answers and he lets out a sigh of relief. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m okay,’ he says, but his voice is telling otherwise. He is not okay, he is an utter mess. He just became a bit better at hiding it over the past couple of month.

She must sense that too, because she frowns for a split second. ‘Congratulations,’ she tells him and it sounds sincere. Of course it sounds sincere, the words come from Adelaide herself, the embodiment of sincerity. ‘The movie was really good and you deserved to win best actor. You were great.’

‘Thank you,’ he says. Henry can’t believe he used to be so comfortable around her and now he’s getting heart palpitations simply by looking at her. ‘You look amazing, Adelaide.’

She nods. ‘Thank you.’ She takes a sip of her champagne and purses her lips for a brief moment, probably thinking about what she can say. ‘I heard you turned down James Bond.’

Henry nods. ‘Yes, I did. I didn’t want to be part of that franchise.’

‘Was it because of me?’ she asks.

He sighs. ‘Well, I think you were part of my decision. I think I should thank you.’

Adelaide simply nods. ‘Right.’

Henry knows he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t stop himself. ‘Adelaide, I’m so terribly sorry for everything I did. I know I hurt you and it pains me every single day to know I betrayed your trust. Trust I didn’t even deserve in the first place.’

She simply shakes her head. ‘Please don’t do this, Henry. It’s all okay.’

‘No, it’s not okay,’ he tells her, taking a step closer to her, while still maintaining an appropriate distance from her. She doesn’t step back and from the looks of it, she actually is open to what he has to say to her, so he better make it worth while. ‘You had every right to be as mad as you were and I totally understand. I was just hoping that maybe we can talk about it, clear the air, so we can be in the same room together.’

Adelaide blinks her eyes a few times. ‘Really?’

‘Really,’ he confirms. ‘And if you don’t want to, I respect that. Just wanted to at least have suggested the idea to you.’

She nods. ‘Okay, just not here.’

‘Of course not,’ he quickly says. ‘How about we do coffee tomorrow? I know a nice place around here. They have nice cappuccino’s. If you want to of course. Maybe you want to meet up somewhere else, that’s fine with me.’

She shakes her head. ‘Coffee tomorrow is good,’ she says. Her eyes are brighter than the first few moments he started to talk to her. That’s a good sign, right?

Henry nods, as he counts his blessings, thankful that she actually agrees to this idea. ‘Good, good.’

Her co-star David walks over to the two of them and stands next to Adelaide. ‘Hi,’ he says when his eyes fall on Henry, holding out his hand. ‘Congratulations, man. I loved the movie and you were great. Very well deserved.’

‘Oh, thank you,’ he says with a smile, because David’s friendliness is contagious.

David places his hand on Adelaide waist. ‘Ready to go? Our limo is ready.’

Adelaide tears her gaze away from Henry and meets David’s eyes. She smiles at her co-star, in a way only she can do. This shouldn’t make him jealous, not after all these months they spend apart.

But seeing her this close to someone other than him, confirms what he thought earlier that night.

He missed her more than he originally figured.

‘I am,’ she tells David. ‘Henry, I’ll see you tomorrow then. You still have my number?’

As if he would erase her number. Ever. ‘I do.’

‘Text me a time and address and I’ll be there.’ She sends him a soft smile, before turning around. She walks off to the exit with David, his hand still in the dip her waist.

Henry stares after the pair, as his blood boils with rage and jealousy.

But he shouldn’t be. He can’t be.

Besides, the most important thing is: he is going to talk with Adelaide Park, face to face. He quickly looks over the crowd, to see if he can find Anne, so he can say his goodbye and go to his hotelroom to prepare, because this might be his only chance to make things right between him and Adelaide.


	11. Chapter 11

The second the door of the limo closes behind me, I let out a deep sigh. Oh no, oh no, oh no, I think to myself. What happened out there? I didn’t expect to see Henry. I watched him on the screen since he was nominated for best actor and when he won, I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him. Thankfully I was hidden pretty well behind Brad Pitt, so Henry couldn’t see me, however: I could still see him.

He looked so handsome in his black velvet suit, his curls smoothed out and hearing him thanking his family and the director, made me me realize how much I missed him. Over the last couple of months, I’ve been keeping myself busy with filming, touring for the movie and doing tons of interviews with David. Since I was around my best friend so much, I barely had time to think about Henry and my heartbreak.

Yes, I saw pictures of him on my Instagram explore page. Yes, I saw his statement. Yes, I saw him nearly murdering the interviewer with his eyes when my name was mentioned.

However I didn’t let that get to my head. I skillfully managed to push my feelings aside about the issue and decided to simply realize that it was screen Henry. A Henry Cavill far far away from me.

But now he was right here. I could reach out with my hand and touch him. I wanted to, really. To touch his beautiful face, to feel his strong hands on my cheeks and his lips against mine. I realized how much I was yearning for his touch.

‘You okay?’ David asks me, causing me to snap out of my thoughts about Henry.

I quickly nod. ‘Mhm, I’m okay,’ I tell him, but I don’t even believe it myself. I’m not okay. I feel like crying or jumping out of the limo to rush back and hug Henry and kiss him.

However, I’m still remembering the hurtful words. Henry Cavill betrayed me on television for the world to see. 

‘Are you sure?’ David pushes.

I let out a deep sigh. ‘It just felt so familiar, you know?’ I admit, knowing that David will drag it out of me, one way or another. ‘Talking to Henry… I thought it would be awkward and terrible, but it felt so right.’

He chuckles. ‘I could see in your eyes that you still like him a lot and this only confirmed my suspicions: you miss him like crazy.’

‘Shut up, David,’ I mumble.

‘Am I right?’

 _Yes._ ‘No, it’s been months. I’m so over him.’

‘Such a liar,’ he laughs, as the limo drives off. ‘Just a question: aren’t you being a little too hard on him?’

I scoff. ‘Is this some sort of bro code I’m not aware of? He talked shit about me behind my back and the entire world found out about it, the same way and time I did.’

‘Easy there, tiger,’ David says, leaning back in his seat. ‘He did keep his end of the bargain. He never spoke about you, he wrote a statement that was very considerate towards you and from the looks of it: he misses you a lot.’

I shake my head. ‘He doesn’t.’

‘I can recognize the look of love from anywhere, Park. That man still loves you like crazy.’

‘He loves me?’ I can’t help but laugh out of utter disbelieve. ‘For fuck’s sake, David, we had a tiny thing we rushed into.’

He ignores my statement. ‘You sound awfully defensive. If this was just a tiny thing you two rushed into, tell me one thing: why are you even meeting with him?’

‘I do not sound defensive,’ I say to him, only confirming I actually did and still do. ‘He wanted to talk about this and I kinda agreed.’ I look to my side, only to see David already looking at me. ‘I want to clear the air between us.’

David nods. ‘I know you do.’

And for some weird reason, I feel tears building up in my eyes. A sniffle leaves my lips, followed by many more. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Oh no,’ he says in a soothing tone. He scoots over and wraps his arms around my upper body. ‘It’s okay, Adelaide.’

‘I don’t even know why I’m crying.’

‘I do,’ he says, placing his chin on top of my head. ‘You miss him more than you want to admit. I saw the way your face turned pale when you would come across a picture of him. I saw you watching the trailer for his newest movie. Besides, you are not as mad at him as you want people to think, because if you were, you wouldn’t have agreed on talking to him at the afterparty, let alone meeting for coffee tomorrow.’

I simply nod, because this is the absolute truth. David knows me even better than I know myself and my motives. ‘You are right.’

‘Of course I am,’ David chuckles. ‘Adelaide, remember: whatever choice you make, it’ll be a good one and you don’t have to decide what you’ll do right there and then. You can think about it and I know for a fact that Henry will respect that. From the looks of it, he only wants what is best for you.’

I hate it when he is right. ‘I’m scared, David.’

‘I know you are and that is totally allowed.’ He cradles my face in his hand and wipes away some tears. ‘I can come with you if you want. Maybe that gives you the extra support you need.’

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. ‘I want you to,’ I whisper.

‘Then I’ll go with you. And if you want me gone, just say so and I’ll move my ass. Or if I think I should go, I’ll go.’ He flashes me a smile and asks: ‘Remember what I told you when we started filming?’

I chuckle, before I nod. ‘You and I, we’re in this together.’

He pulls me back in a tight hug and I melt against his broad frame. ‘I’m your friend, Adelaide. Remember that.’

‘I will,’ I whisper, closing my eyes, already dreading tomorrow.

◎◎◎

I have missed Henry over these couple of months. I have been angry, I have been mad, of course, however… David is right: I don’t want to be mad at him anymore and if I’m being honest: I’m not. He made a terrible mistake, but he did keep his end of the bargain.

After I peeled off the white dress and got myself ready for the night, I crawl underneath the covers with my laptop open. I look up a new compilation of me and Henry during the Celebrity Project made by fans. It actually has the song ‘I Should’ve Told You’ by Fiji Blue, the same song I sang to Henry.

My eyes fill up with tears, as I see the memories flash by. Our first meeting. Our first swim. Me visibly growing more comfortable with him. The kiss on my leg, our real kiss on camera…

I’m dragged into the black hole of these types of compilations and this only confirms David’s suspicions, but it also reveals my true feelings about the entire situation. I close the laptop and let out a big sigh.

My phone start to ring and I look at my screen, only to discover a message from Henry.

 **Henry Cavill:** Hi Adelaide, you know the Griddle?

I wipe away the leftover tears off my cheeks. I miss him. I miss him so much.

 **Adelaide:** Yes, I do.

 **Henry Cavill:** Want to meet there at 4?

 **Adelaide:** Of course.

 **Adelaide:** Henry, I’m a little nervous, so do you mind if I bring David with me?

 **Henry Cavill:** No, of course not. Please bring him with you, if that helps you. I don’t mind.

 **Adelaide:** Okay, good. See you tomorrow.

 **Henry Cavill:** See you tomorrow.

◎◎◎

David squeezes my shoulder as we walk towards the Griddle Cafe. ‘I’d advise you to breath, Park,’ he says. ‘You don’t want to pass out on the both of us.’

‘Shut the fuck up.’

‘No need for hostility,’ he says, as he places his hand in the back of my neck. ‘You’ve got this. I guarantee.’

I look over to the side. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘Just really nervous.’

‘Do you want me to tell you an inappropriate joke or…?’

I can’t help but laugh. ‘Not necessary, thank you. Otherwise that will be all I think about probably.’

‘Well,’ he says, ‘at least you’re smiling again and a smile is a better look on you than a frown.’

I already see Henry sitting at a table and I stop walking. He looks so approachable, with his long sleeved shirt and his curls loose. From the looks of it, he is nervous well. He has his hands folded together and I can see him deeply exhaling from where I’m standing. ‘Walk ahead,’ I say to David. ‘I just have to think about this. Alone.’

David nods and walks off the table. He holds out his hand and shakes Henry’s, before sitting down. He starts a conversation, so effortlessly. When Henry looks over, I turn around so I don’t have to look at him yet. I shake my head as I nearly pull out all my hairs.

I missed him so much, I think to myself. I tried to get over him, but when I’m being real and honest with myself: I am simply not. Especially not after watching those clips. Maybe David was right: maybe we still love each other.

After a deep breath and some calming thoughts, I walk towards the table and Henry, the ever so gentleman, stands up. ‘Adelaide,’ he says. ‘Hi.’

‘Hi,’ I whisper. ‘Please, sit down.’

He waits when I’m seated before he does the same and a waiter walks to our table. We order our drinks and I straighten my back. I look at Henry. ‘What did you want to talk about?’

He lets out a sigh of relief, glad I’m starting the conversation. ‘I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.’

‘Henry, I already now that,’ I say.

‘Please,’ he says in a hoarse tone, ‘let me explain.’

I simply nod, because he sounds so desperate.

Henry clears his throat. ‘You were right that night,’ he says, ‘I should’ve told you about my earlier feelings towards you, when I told you I was falling in love with you. It’s not fair that I kept that from you, especially since you were opening up to me.’

‘Did you mean it?’ I ask. ‘That you were actually falling in love with me?’

He places his underarms on the table. ‘I did,’ he whispers. ‘Of course I meant it. You made me forget about everything that was ever bothering, you are the only one that makes me feel like I’m loved and understood. You gave me trust I wasn’t supposed to earn and yet I violated you.’

I look up from my hands and stare in his beautiful eyes. ‘Henry, it’s okay.’

‘No, it’s not,’ he tells me. ‘Adelaide, you were completely honest with me and opening up to me, while I wasn’t transparant.’

‘Why not?’

He swallows hard, his Adams apple bobbing up and down. ‘Because I didn’t think it would matter. I thought you would never find out. I mean, it was a private conversation.’

‘Well, you couldn’t help it,’ I whisper. ‘You didn’t know it was being recorded. It was indeed a private conversation.’

Henry rubs his face and laughs out of disbelieve. ‘Why are you so understanding?’

I don’t even know what to say. Why am I understanding? Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do when he is pouring out his heart like this?

David smiles. ‘Because she has a heart of gold.’

‘I don’t,’ I say.

David and Henry look at each other with a knowing look.

‘Henry,’ I say, ‘I’m not mad at you anymore. I haven’t really been mad at you. Okay, wait, I was mad for quite some time, because you did violated my trust. However, I can’t stay mad at you. You did gave me something amazing and that was the feeling of opening up to people. I open up to more people and it affects my relationships with people around me, in a positive way.’

My best friend nods. ‘Because of you, man.’ David looks at Henry and sends him a reassuring smile. The waiter brings us our drinks and David stands up. ‘I’ll be back in a minute. Think you two could use that.’ He flashes me a smile, before he takes his coffee with him and walks away from our table.

Henry and I stare at each other for awhile. He looks torn and broken and I stand up from my seat, before walking over and I sit next to him. He stiffens up and when I gently place my hand in the back of his neck, I not only feel his warm skin against my palm, but also how tense he is.

Poor guy.

‘You really hurt me, Henry,’ I whisper.

‘I know and for that I’m so terribly sorry.’

‘I know, but I can’t stay mad at you forever and I don’t even want to. Listen: I forgive you.’

His eyes are filled with pain and regret and I place my forehead against his.

‘I’m sorry I never gave you time to explain yourself.’

‘I didn’t deserve that,’ he says, ‘so please don’t apologize for that. You had every right to be as mad as you were.’

I open my mouth and finally I manage to whisper: ‘I love you, Henry.’ The second those words leave my lips, a sob follows.

He cradles my face, his thumb caressing the apple of my cheek. ‘Addy, I love you too,’ he whispers. ‘I promise you that if you allow me, I can show you that I can be the best boyfriend for you. I hope you know I’ll never hurt you like this anymore.’

I smile, as a tear rolls over my cheek. He wipes it away. ‘I know and I really want to try it again, because I can’t seem to forget you, let alone get over you.’

‘I can’t believe you are actually willing to give me a second chance. I don’t deserve that.’

I nod. ‘You do, Henry.’ I wrap my arms around his shoulders and nuzzle my face in his nape. ‘You deserve a second chance. You did everything I wanted you to do.’ I take in his scent, the mix of sweet and salty. ‘I missed you so much.’

He pulls me closer to him. ‘I missed you too, Addy. I’m going to make it up to you.’

I pull back and send him a smile, only to be met by one of his beautiful smiles. Before I can say something, David clears his throat and we both look up. A blush creeps up my cheeks. ‘From what I’m seeing, I get that you two made up?’ As if he didn’t just interrupt a beautiful moment, David plops back on his seat and Henry and I let go of each other. He simply stares at the two of us, before he starts to laugh. ‘You two aren’t teenagers, you can drop the busted look in your eyes. I’m happy you two made up. Henry, you want me to do the best friend speech about kicking your ass when you hurt Adelaide ever again?’

‘I really feel like I should have a say in this,’ I mumble. ‘Besides, David, look at Henry. You’re not going to win that.’

He cocks an eyebrow. ‘Have you seen me with knifes? If Diego Hargreeves can do it, so can I, so listen.’ He turns to Henry with a serious look in his eyes. ‘If I even hear one bad syllable about her from you, directly or indirectly, I’ll kill you.’

Henry nods with a chuckle. ‘I know.’

◎◎◎

After we said our goodbyes to Diego, we go to my apartment building and somehow we ended up with the splendid idea to use the swimming pool downstairs. He arranged some shorts from the reception, while I changed into a red bikini.

Now I’m sitting on the edge of the pool, while Henry is already standing in the water. He places his hands on the sides of my thighs and simply stares at me. ‘What is it?’ I ask him, as my fingers run through his damp hairs.

‘I missed you,’ he whispers. ‘I missed looking into your beautiful eyes. I missed touching your skin. I missed talking to you, being around you.’

‘I missed you too,’ I say. ‘Especially kissing you.’ I wrap my arms around his neck and press a kiss on the tip of his nose. ‘We’re all good, Henry.’

‘Are you sure? Is there still anything you need to get off your chest? If so, please tell me. I’d rather know now.’

‘It’s all good. Remember, I forgave you and I want to give you your well deserved second chance. Is there anything you need to get off your chest?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I just want you to know that I’m not going to mess this up.’

‘I know.’ I wrap my legs around him, to pull him closer to the edge. I press a kiss on his lips and I don’t think our kisses have ever felt this desperate. He opens his mouth and as I response, I do the exact same. Henry pulls me into the cold water and despite him holding me safely against him, I can’t help but moan as I freeze up.

We fall into our same old routine, as if we didn’t spend eight months apart from each other. We laugh, he holds me and lets me try to swim a bit on my own. However, when my head goes underwater, he is quick to pull me up. While I’m coughing, he apologizes with a gentle kiss on his cheek.

I smile at him. ‘I love you, Henry,’ I whisper.

‘I love you too, Addy,’ he says, ‘and forever will.’


	12. Chapter 12

‘Hello everybody,’ Henry says into the camera.

His beautiful girlfriend sits next to him on a chair, but since she is so short, her legs are dangling off the chair, while he has planted both of his feet on the floor. He looks to the side, simply to take in her beauty, even if it’s just for a short time. ‘My name is Adelaide Park.’

‘And I am Henry Cavill and we are doing the Wired Autocomplete Interview.’

Henry watches these types of interviews religiously and he always wanted to do this. And now he gets to do it with his gorgeous Adelaide.

They recently starred in a new romantic comedy: _I’m sorry I hit you with my car_. It’s about a woman named Jazz Mitchells, who accidentally hits one of the top attorneys in the country Declan Stanford with her car. Because of the impact, Declan permanently loses his vision. Jazz feels so guilty, she decides she should become his assistent, since she has a law degree, but due to personal matter hasn’t used it. Obviously—it’s a romantic comedy—they fall in love with one another, though Declan has never seen Jazz. It’s hard on him, since he—surprise surprise—is extremely superficial and only cares about looks.

When Henry read the script, he was slightly intrigued, however when Adelaide was sent the script as well, because the director wanted her as Jazz Mitchels, he was more than intrigued. Starring alongside his crazily talented girlfriend made the experience worth while. People already speculated they are dating again, however they have yet to go public. They made up nine months ago, but keep their relationship pretty under the radar. They started out in the public eye and that went south. Despite the two of them not being involved in reality tv, they wanted to take it slow, without the hot and demanding breaths of the fans and paparazzi in their necks.

Henry holds the board for Adelaide, as she peels off the sticker to reveal the first question. ‘Is Adelaide Park Korean?’ She nods as she looks into the camera. ‘One hundred percent.’

Henry can’t help but stare at her and when her eyes meet his, she flashes him a lovely smile. He’ll never get tired of seeing that smile.

‘Is Adelaide Park related to Park Jimin from BTS?’ She starts to chuckle. ‘No, but I wish. Wouldn’t that be super awesome? If that were the case though, I’d rub that fact into people’s faces everywhere I go. Okay, next one: is Adelaide Park tall?’

Henry can’t help but snort. ‘She is everything but tall,’ he says, before she gets the chance to answer it.

She pouts as she looks his way and his heart swells at the sight. ‘No?’

‘Sorry, Addy.’ He bumps his knee against hers.

‘Is Adelaide Park Lara Croft?’ Adelaide’s smile becomes brighter and brighter. ‘Well, I’m going to portray her very very soon. I’m so excited, because this will be my first action packed movie.’

Henry looks to the side again, as he watches her beam with pride. When she got the dreading phone call she had been waiting for and the director told her she got the part, she kept it very professional over the phone. However, the second she hung up, tears filled her eyes and she stood in the middle of the kitchen, as she cried with happiness. For the first time she was going to broaden her movie horizon, something she wanted to do so for such a long time. Adelaide is already training pretty hard, so she’s got a more athletic appearance.

He loves the way she is, but the determination she has for this movie, is something he recognizes instantly. Besides, he loves spending even more time with her, as he goes to the same gym as her and together they work out. He even came to the point where he threw everything remotely unhealthy out, so he can eat healthy with her. It’s hard enough already to eat healthy, let alone when he is going to eat his usual snacks right under her nose.

Adelaide has reached the end of the board already and Henry hands it to the woman who gives him the next board. His girlfriend pries the board out of his hands, so she can hold it for him, just like he did for her.

‘Okay, let’s see,’ he says, as he peels off the top sticker. ‘Is Henry Cavill Superman?’ He looks to Adelaide. ‘Am I? I’ve heard I look like the actor, but I don’t really see it.’

She studies his face. ‘Hmm… No, Superman is way hotter than you.’

He spots the mischievous smile on her face that he has come to love. She sticks out her tongue and he can’t help but smile at her.

‘Is Henry Cavill a nerd? I think I qualify as a nerd.’

Adelaide’s eyes widen. ‘You think? You are the biggest nerd I have ever encountered, you dork.’

Henry bumps his shoulder against hers. ‘Is Henry Cavill dating Adelaide Park?’

After they talked about it over coffee and took a swim, they have been on multiple dates and it didn’t take long before they simply fell into their trusted routines. He moved into her apartment when filming and promoting became a daily routine for awhile and the second he stepped in, he realized he was home.

Not long after that, he met her parents. Adelaide is a copy of her dad, look wise and personality wise.They have the same smile and share the same adorable traits; when they eat, they pout, when they watch a movie, they frown. Her mother on the other hand, is a lot more serious and continued to threaten him. She told him multiple times in an ice cold way how she’ll run him over multiple times with her electrical wheelchair if he ever hurts her again.

He is not doubting her at all, but he can guarantee he’ll never do something that idiotic again. He loves Adelaide more than anything in the world and he would be an absolute moron if he ever let her go.

When they were casted for this romantic comedy together, it was such a magical moment. Despite him playing a blind man for seventy five percent of the movie (minus the beginning and the multiple flashbacks), during certain scenes he couldn’t stop staring at Adelaide. Taking in her beauty was becoming so normal for him, that not doing that felt wrong.

During their sex scene, the director wanted to put the focus on him taking in her beauty with his touch, instead with his sight. Touching her wasn’t a problem for him, because he loved touching her, but not getting turned on by her was the hardest part of it all and let’s just say he had to drag her to his trailer afterwards.

‘I am dating Adelaide Park,’ Henry finally says with a disgusting grin on his face. ‘I know a lot of people have been suspecting it for awhile now, but I can confirm that as a matter of fact, we are indeed dating.’ He holds her hand and she starts to blush, because he looks at her, probably with heart eyes, since that always makes her blush. ‘And I’m so incredibly lucky.’

◎◎◎

When they are home, Adelaide kicks off her shoes and rushes to the couch. With her eyes closed, she is sprawled out on the cushions. ‘Henry,’ she calls out for him, causing him to walk over to her. He sits on the edge of the couch and she holds out her hands for him. ‘Can I have a hug?’ she asks with a slight pout. ‘I don’t feel too good.’

‘Why, love? What’s wrong?’ Henry asks, placing her hand on her cheek.

‘I think I’ve got that nasty flu,’ she says. ‘I felt a little funny during the interview, but now I can finally relax and I feel even worse than before.’ Adelaide sighs and closes her eyes again. ‘Please? That hug?’

He gets on the couch with her, lifting her on his chest and wraps his arms tightly around her. When Henry gently kisses her forehead, he notices she is already heating up a bit. ‘Ah, my love, I think you might be right. Good thing I love taking care of you. You’ll be better in no time.’

‘We need to cancel my parents,’ she mentions. They were supposed to meet them tomorrow, but knowing Adelaide she doesn’t want her mother coming down with this, something that he completely understands, though he is a bit disappointed they are not going to her parents. Spending time with the Parks, is always nice and he loves her parents as if they were his own. Hearing their stories from pre-actress Adelaide are both heartbreaking and encouraging. They love one another in a way they’ll know they can rely on each other. ‘How about we’ll prepare the couch, so it’s a bit more comfortable for us and I’ll make you some chicken broth? You want to watch some tv or a movie?’

She looks up at him with glassy eyes, a clear sign she is indeed coming down with something. ‘I know you wanted to hang out with David tonight and you can still do that. I’m a big girl, I can manage.’

He was jealous of what Adelaide and David had. They were very close friends and a simply look was enough for them to tell each other a lot. Now David Castañeda is one of his best friends and he loves it when they can hang out together. ‘Not when you’re sick. David will understand.’ He lets his hand run over her cheek. ‘I’m sorry you feel like this.’

She shrugs. ‘There have been plenty of moments where I was all alone when I was sick. Now you are here with me, that makes it more doable. Besides, I took care of you and your upset stomach a few weeks ago. It’s only fair that you take care of me right now.’

He chuckles. ‘It’s my absolute pleasure, love.’

After he prepared the couch for her, even helped her changing into something more comfortable and removed her make-up, he heats up some soup for her, as she is watching television. He has already called off David, who actually has come down with a bit of a sore throat himself and rather hangs on his mother’s couch, so they’ll simply reschedule.

Henry plops on the couch again and Adelaide maneuvers herself between his legs, her back against his chest, as she eats her soup.

Henry prizes himself lucky every single day that he is dating this wonderful woman, who has shown him so much. He fucked it up once, but that is not going to happen again. They are in this together and they are going to stay in this together. The movie industry can be a tough one and at first he dreaded the times that he would be in LA, missing his family dearly. However, now he is with Adelaide and no matter where they are, as long as they are together, they are home.

His phone vibrates and he sees he has a message from his brother. He quickly opens it, discretely so Adelaide won’t see it.

 **Piers:** I can finally officially tell you: the arrangements are made. Good thing you told me this far ahead, because that place is booked when it comes to proposals.

 **Piers:** You sure you can wait nine months before you propose to her?

Henry smiles at his phone, before he presses a kiss in Adelaide’s nape. ‘I love you, Addy,’ he whispers to her. ‘You do know that right?’

‘Of course I know that,’ she says as she looks to the side. ‘I love you too.’ When she focuses back on the movie again, he quickly types back a message.

 **Henry:** I can wait, no matter how hard it may seem. I love her a lot, Piers and I’m not letting her go.

 **Piers:** I know you do. Now when are we going ring shopping?

◎◎◎

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe this is the end of this fic 😭😭 Adelaide and Henry are amazing, but I think this is a good place to end the story. I wanna say thank you to everyone who read this. You are fantastic and thank you for the kind words 😘


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